Mass killings reported in conflict-torn African state
At least 124 people have been killed in a massive new wave of attacks in Sudan’s El Gezira state, according to local activists, who have accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing “massacres” against civilians.
The incident is reportedly one of the deadliest to have happened since a brutal civil war broke out in the northeastern African nation between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in mid-April last year.
The Sudan Doctors Network reported on Saturday that dozens of civilians had been injured and hundreds more displaced as a result of deadly assaults on Al-Sariha village by RSF fighters.
The Wad Madani Resistance Committee, a grassroots pro-democracy group, also reported that more than 100 wounded could not be evacuated for treatment due to shelling by militants, who had completely invaded Al-Sariha. The death toll could be higher, the organization said while denouncing the “heinous massacre” as “ethnic cleansing.”
A member of the Resistance Committees told CNN that the militia has detained 150 people, including the elderly. The group shared a video on Facebook showing men in camouflage manhandling an elderly civilian. Another clip shows dozens of local men sitting on the floor, allegedly arrested by the RSF.
Fighting in El Gezira has reportedly escalated since Abu Aqla Muhammad Ahmed Kikil, the RSF commander in the southeastern state, switched sides with several of his troops and joined the national army days ago.
On Sunday, the Wad Madani Resistance Committee reported that more than 50 villages in the region have been under continuous attack for the past six days. The group stated that it is unable to communicate with dozens of other invaded villages due to a curfew imposed by the paramilitary forces, who have seized “all satellite Internet devices.”
Earlier on Friday, the RSF accused the state military of arming civilians in the region and using forces under the command of the defected official Kikil, prompting the attacks, Reuters reported.
The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said she is “shocked and deeply appalled” by the “atrocious crimes,” including rape, targeted attacks, sexual violence, and mass killings in El Gezira.
“It is unacceptable and must stop immediately,” Nkweta-Salami stated.
World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the reported killings “tragic.”
“This latest violence underscores the horrific ongoing humanitarian crisis and the need for urgent civilian protection, which remains overlooked by the international community and media,” he wrote on X.
According to the UN, Sudan now faces the world’s largest hunger crisis, with tens of thousands of people killed and more than 11 million displaced as a result of the 18-month-old war.
