Clarissa reveals harrowing detention of CNN team in Sudan

A team of CNN journalists, including chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward, was recently detained for 48 hours by a militia while reporting in Sudan’s Darfur region. In a first-person essay for CNN on Wednesday, Ward recounted the harrowing ordeal.

“We came to Darfur to report on the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, never intending to become part of the story,” she wrote. “But months of planning unraveled in moments when we were detained by a militia led by a man known as ‘the general.’”

Although reporting from dangerous regions is common for journalists, detentions of Western reporters are relatively rare. Ward, who has extensive experience covering conflict zones, explained that the militia suspected her team of being spies. Alongside Ward were cameraman Scott McWhinnie and producer Brent Swails.

Their goal was to cover the struggles of civilians fleeing violence and seeking aid in Tawila, a town overwhelmed by refugees. After securing permission from one militia group, they were confronted by a rival faction at an arranged meeting point. Ward recalled their vehicles being “weighed down with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns.”

Following the arrest of their driver, the CNN team was subjected to three-hour-long interrogations by eight militia members, who repeatedly asked questions like, “Why are you here?” and “Who sent you?”

Initially instructed to follow a militia vehicle, the team was abruptly stopped by armed soldiers. The general ordered them to stop filming, and McWhinnie handed over his camera, assuring them they were not recording.

In a tense moment, Ward described the fear of being shot. Ultimately, the team was detained for 48 hours near a dry riverbed, guarded by around 14 armed men.