Allegations Surface: RSF Militia ‘Massacres’ Civilians in Sudan’s Gezira State”

The RSF militia faces serious allegations of a massacre in Gezira state, Sudan, with eyewitness accounts highlighting the ongoing violence and instability in the area. Investigations are underway.

The Gezira Conference, a local civil society organization, has described the attacks in northern and eastern Gezira state as a massacre.

According to reports, fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) invaded a town in the Al-Kamelin locality on Friday morning and began firing indiscriminately from high-rise buildings. The incident resulted in at least 50 fatalities and left hundreds more injured.

In the city of Tamboul, located in northern Gezira, RSF fighters went on a rampage, killing dozens of civilians and displacing thousands more.

According to local groups, the attacks seem to be fueled by anger following the defection of a high-ranking RSF commander to the army’s side. Abu Aqlah Keikel, effectively in charge of Gezira province and originally from there, surrendered to the Sudanese military in early October.

The Sudanese Doctors’ Union reported that RSF attacks have transformed regions in eastern Gezira into “a brutal war zone.”

The fighters were accused of committing sexual crimes, attacking health facilities, and causing forced displacement.

“Overlooked catastrophe”

On Friday, a high-ranking United Nations official urged the international community to focus more on “the forgotten crisis” in Sudan. Over eighteen months of conflict have driven this African nation to the edge of famine.

Ted Chaiban, deputy head of UNICEF, urgently appealed for assistance as the infamous paramilitary Rapid Support Forces wreaked havoc across villages and towns in east-central Gezira province. According to a doctors’ union and a youth group, the forces looted and vandalized both public and private properties, with reports indicating that dozens were killed.

Chaiban stated that the conflict, which broke out in April 2023 between the military and RSF, has resulted in “one of the most severe crises in recent memory,” forcing over 14 million people to leave their homes and making Sudan the world’s largest displacement crisis.

“We haven’t witnessed numbers like these in a generation,” he stated during an interview with The Associated Press. He was referring to the displaced people, along with 8.5 million individuals experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity and another 775,000 facing famine-like conditions.

“The entire nation has been disrupted,” he stated. “Yet, despite this, both the country and the crisis are overlooked.”