https://arab.news/wa5kj
- The army-backed government accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of causing at least 120 civilian deaths over two days in Al-Jazira state
- The RSF in turn accused the regular armed forces of killing 60 people in an air strike in North Darfur
PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s warring parties traded accusations of deadly attacks on civilians as fighting raged in the center and west on Friday between the regular army and paramilitaries.
The army-backed government accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of causing at least 120 civilian deaths over two days in Al-Jazira state, Sudan’s pre-war breadbasket where fighting has raged since last month.
The RSF in turn accused the regular armed forces of killing 60 people in an air strike in North Darfur, where they have been battling to retain a foothold in the western region otherwise controlled by the paramilitaries.
The conflict in Sudan pits the regular army, under Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, against the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
It has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people since April 2023 and displaced more than 11 million more, according to the International Organization for Migration.
“The Janjaweed militia (paramilitaries) committed a new massacre in the town of Hilaliya in Al-Jazira state over the past two days,” the foreign ministry of the army-backed government said in a statement late Thursday.
It said 120 civilians had been killed “either by gunfire or due to food poisoning and lack of medical care.”
The army-backed government routinely refers to the RSF as Janjaweed, an infamous militia recruited by the then government in Khartoum to suppress an ethnic minority rebellion in the western region of Darfur two decades ago.
The Sudan Doctors’ Union said that after “stealing all the possessions of residents in Hilaliya, the militia detained people inside mosques, only allowing them to leave after paying large sums, which are impossible to afford after the extensive looting and theft.”
Witnesses said that the RSF had laid siege to the town for two weeks, leaving residents without safe food and water or access to medical care.
“A large number of citizens are suffering from acute diarrhea and are suspected of having cholera, without access to any medical care,” the Doctors’ Union said, adding that the death toll was “rising rapidly.”
On Monday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that attacks on more than 30 towns and villages in Al-Jazira state since October 20 had driven more than 135,000 people from their homes.
Witnesses reported the first direct clashes between the paramilitaries and former comrades who defected to the army with their commander, Abu Aqla Keykal, last month.
In the vast western region of Darfur, the RSF said that an air strike by the regular armed forces had killed more than 60 civilians and wounded hundreds in a displaced persons’ camp.
“The heinous assault... destroyed Al-Farouq Primary School, which was sheltering over 35 displaced families in the town of Al-Kuma,” a spokesman said on the RSF’s official Telegram channel.
“Hundreds were wounded as a result of the strike, which involved more than seven missiles and bombs.”
Parts of North Darfur state, including its besieged capital El-Fasher, a city of some two million people, are the only parts of the region still under the control of the army and its allies.
UN officials have voiced mounting concern about the dire conditions in Darfur and across Sudan.
“The people of Sudan are living through a nightmare of violence — with thousands of civilians killed, and countless others facing unspeakable atrocities, including widespread rape and sexual assaults,” UN chief Antonio Guterres told the Security Council late last month.