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Paramilitary fighters on vehicles, camels and on foot stormed the Sudanese army’s last stronghold Darfur On Tuesday, hundreds of people were killed and detained in the latest brutality of Sudan’s more than 31-month war.
The Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, captured the city of El Fashar, the capital of North Darfur state. united nations The chief called it a “terrible escalation” in the conflict.
Medical groups said RSF fighters killed dozens of civilians and detained hundreds of others since they seized a military base in the city on Sunday.
The army said it had withdrawn from the city in hopes of protecting civilians from further violence after more than a year of RSF attacks on the city. Military chief of staff General Abdel-Fattah Burhan said the army withdrew due to “systemic destruction, and systemic killing of civilians” by the RSF.
The war began in April 2023 when rising tensions between the Sudanese army and the RSF erupted into open fighting in the capital. khartoumAnd elsewhere in the country.
Attacks on civilians, summary executions reported
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it had received credible reports of atrocities including summary executions, attacks on civilians on escape routes and house-to-house raids. It said sexual violence, particularly against women and girls, has also been reported in the city.
Graphic footage flooded social media showing fighters in RSF uniform shooting and beating people as they tried to flee. Other footage showed soldiers in vehicles and on camels roaming the city streets.
Several people were detained, with one video showing a group of youths wearing Sudanese Red Crescent vests being held and beaten by an armed fighter.
“The reports coming from El Fasher are appalling,” said Tigray Chaguta, Amnesty International’s regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa. He urged the RSF to stop its attacks on civilians and allow humanitarian aid into the city.
“The people of El Fasher have already endured the RSF’s brutal 18-month siege of the city,” he said. “All those responsible for ongoing atrocities must be held personally accountable.”
Kidnapping of medical workers
Sudan Doctors Network, a medical group monitoring the war, said RSF fighters abducted five medical staff from the town, including four doctors, a pharmacist and a nurse.
The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab published a report on Tuesday, relying on satellite imagery, saying that RSF forces “were committing alleged mass killings” after capturing El Fasher.
Using Airbus imagery taken on Monday, the laboratory pointed to a series of scenes in the Daraja Oula neighborhood of El Fasher. These included trucks with guns on the roads, known as “technicians”, which appeared like roadblocks.
“Imagery analysis shows objects consistent with the size of human bodies on the ground near the RSF vehicles, including at least five examples of reddish earth discoloration,” the report said.
The Associated Press separately accessed and analyzed satellite images from Airbus, matching the descriptions highlighted by the Humanitarian Research Lab.
While the AP was not able to conclusively determine what the objects on the ground were or what the red spots visible in the dirt were, it raises new concerns about the RSF’s conduct after taking El Fasher.
The UN human rights office said it feared that the RSF was “carrying out atrocities, including summary executions” in El Fasher. It cited social media footage circulated on the internet purportedly showing fighters shooting unarmed people.
No comment from RSF on allegations of atrocities
RSF has not addressed the allegations against itself. The paramilitary force evolved from the notorious Janjaweed Arab militia, which committed genocide during the Darfur conflict in the 2000s. In one of its last acts, the Biden administration declared that the RSF and its allies are committing genocide in the current war.
More than a decade after the creation of South Sudan following years of fighting between the central government and rebels, the fall of El Fasher to the RSF could lead to another partition of Sudan.
In comments in Malaysia on Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the fall of El Fasher marked a “terrible escalation” in the war and called for an end to foreign military support to the warring parties.
“The problem is not only the fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, but also the increasing external interference that undermines the prospects for a ceasefire and a political solution,” a UN spokesman was quoted as saying.
Guterres did not name any specific countries, but the Sudanese government and rights groups have repeatedly accused the UAE of involvement in the war by supplying weapons to the RSF, a claim the Gulf country denies.
Red Cross volunteers murdered in Bara
Also on Tuesday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced that five of its volunteers were killed while distributing food in the town of Bara in Kordofan state. It said three other volunteers were missing. The group said the team was wearing uniforms with the Red Crescent logo.
“Any attacks on humanitarian aid teams are unacceptable,” the group said in a statement. “We strongly reiterate our call for unwavering respect for the Red Cross and Red Crescent symbols and the vital humanitarian services they represent.”
According to the United Nations, more than 40,000 people have been killed in the war, but the actual death toll is likely much higher. The war has also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with parts of the country, including the El Fasher region, plunged into famine. More than 14 million people have fled their homes. ,
Associated Press writer John Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report.