Incident Summary:
10/23/2007: Five civilian oil workers, including three Sudanese, one Egyptian, and one Iraqi, were kidnapped and 20 Sudanese Army troops were killed when an unknown number of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) perpetrators stormed the Bafra oil field, overwhelmed the garrison, and absconded with hostages in West Kurdufan State, Sudan.
Overview
GTD ID:
200710230004
When:
2007-10-23
Country:
Sudan
Region:
Sub-Saharan Africa
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
West Kordofan
City:
Unknown
Location Details:
The incident occurred at the Bafra Oil Field.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Kidnapping) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC) |
Specific Description |
GNPOC employees |
Nationality of Target |
Multinational |
Target Type: Military |
Name of Entity |
Sudanese Army |
Specific Description |
Troops guarding the Bafra oil field |
Nationality of Target |
Sudan |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
5 |
US Hostages |
0 |
Days of Kidnapping |
20 |
Outcome |
Hostage(s) released by perpetrators |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
JEM commander Abdelaziz el-Nur Ashr claimed credit for the attack in a post-incident phone call to Agence France Presse and demanded that the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC), a consortium of China's CNPC, India's ONGC, Malaysia's Petronas, and Sudan’s Sudapet, withdraw its workers from the region by November 1, 2007. The men in question, employees of Schlumberger Limited (an oil services company contracted to GNPOC), were released unharmed to tribal chiefs in Majelad, Sudan on November 12, 2007. The kidnapping may have been an attempt to scuttle peace talks with the Sudanese government held at Sirte, Libya in late October. Two rebel groups abstained from those talks. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
20 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
20 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Mohamed Osman, “Darfur rebels attack Chinese-run oil field in attempt to broaden war against Sudan government,” Associated Press, October 25, 2007. |
“Darfur rebels set deadline for oil company to pull out,” Agence France Presse, October 25, 2007. |
“Kidnapped oil workers freed in Sudan,” Cape Times (South Africa), November 21, 2007. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties