Sudans paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed a minimum of 124 individuals in a town in El Gezira State on Friday, activists stated, in one of the deadliest events of an 18-month war and largest in a spate of attacks in the state.Following the surrender of high-ranking RSF officer Abuagla Keikal to the army last Sunday, pro-democracy activists stated the RSF has performed revenge attacks in the farming state where he originates from, eliminating and detaining civilians and displacing thousands.Gezira has actually already faced a months-long rampage in which homeowners told Reuters the RSF looted homes, eliminated ratings of civilians and displaced numerous thousands.Al-Sireha town, in the north of the state, experienced the worst of the current violence when at least 124 were killed and 100 injured in the RSF raid, the Wad Madani Resistance Committee, a pro-democracy group, stated on Saturday.In a statement on Friday, the RSF accused the army of equipping civilians in Gezira and of using forces under Keikals command, prompting its attacks.The army and the RSF did not respond to requests for comment.The RSF has seized control of large parts of Sudan in a conflict with the army that the United Nations says has actually caused one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises.The war has displaced more than 11 million people, driven parts of the country to extreme cravings or starvation, and drawn in foreign powers that have actually provided both sides material support.It began in April 2023 when tensions in between the RSF and the army, who had formerly shared power, erupted into open conflict at a time when Sudan should have been transitioning to civilian rule after a 2021 coup.The RSF militia is raiding east, west, and main Gezira, and devoting substantial massacres in one town after another, the committee said.Images on social networks shared by the committee and others purported to show lots of bodies covered for burial and mass graves being dug.The people of Gezira are dealing with genocide by the Rapid Support Forces and it is impossible to deal with the hurt and even evacuate them for treatment.
Those who have actually left on foot have actually died or are confronted with death, said the Sudanese Doctors Union, calling for safe passages.A video flowed on social media purported to reveal an RSF soldier who stated he remained in Sireha and who recorded soldiers lining up guys of any ages at gunpoint, using racial epithets, and requiring them to bleat like goats.Another video, shared by the resistance committee, showed an RSF soldier pulling a senior guy to his feet by his beard.Reuters might not instantly confirm any of the videos.Sudans Combating Violence Against Women Unit, a government body, said in a declaration it had gotten reports of RSF soldiers raping females in Gezira villages as a strategy to humiliate the men and drive people out of the area.Keikals defection took place as the army restored a push to regain territory throughout the country.Sudanese army basic Abdel Fattah al-Burhan published on X late on Friday that as more civilian blood was spilled, the Sudanese individuals decision to withstand the RSF grew stronger.But his remarks were consulted with a wave of criticism that the army had actually not secured civilians in Gezira or in other places in the country.The RSF is accused by the United States and others of war criminal offenses, criminal activities versus humankind, and ethnic cleaning, particularly in West Darfur.The army is likewise accused of war criminal activities after performing extensive airstrike campaigns that have regularly lead to high civilian death tolls however done little to press the RSF back.We are keeping an eye on the most recent, shocking RSF attacks on civilians in Gezira.
The killings and sexual violence are reprehensible, the United States Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello stated on X, adding both the RSF and army were failing to protect civilians.Source: Reuters-- Agencies