In brief
In the central Gezira state, escalating violence has resulted in civilian casualties and widespread devastation, prompting urgent calls for humanitarian intervention from the UN.
Reports of armed conflict in Sudan's Gezira state have alarmed the United Nations, with local activists highlighting horrific incidents that include mass killings allegedly perpetrated by the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Clementine Nkweta-Salami, a senior UN official in Sudan, conveyed her distress over these "atrocious crimes," following claims by an activist group that at least 124 individuals were slaughtered in recent attacks on various villages. The RSF refutes accusations of targeting civilians, maintaining that their confrontations are with military-armed militias.The ongoing conflict, which has persisted for 18 months, has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced over 11 million people. Last week, the Gezira state emerged as a fierce battleground, especially after a significant defection from RSF commander Abu Aqla Kayka to the military, reportedly bringing many forces with him. This defection has led the RSF to declare an intention to protect themselves and confront perceived threats.Nkweta-Salami noted concerning preliminary reports detailing extensive attacks executed by the RSF from October 20 to 25. These were marked by mass executions, sexual assaults on women and girls, widespread looting, and the destruction of farms. She drew parallels to previous atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region, where the RSF faced accusations of ethnic cleansing against opposing communities.A statement from the Wad Madani Resistance Committee condemned the RSF’s actions as "extensive massacres" and called for international assistance in establishing secure humanitarian access to communities suffering under the severity of conflict. The Sudanese doctors’ union has also urged the UN to facilitate humanitarian corridors, warning that the situation may amount to genocide. They stated that rescue efforts have become untenable, with the military currently ineffective in safeguarding civilians from violence.The roots of the civil strife trace back to April 2023, when tensions escalated between RSF commander Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and military leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, following both men’s involvement in the 2021 coup that disrupted Sudan’s transition to democracy. Efforts to broker peace by the US and Saudi Arabia have so far been unsuccessful, with both leaders remaining obstinate in their refusal to accept a peace agreement.
