At least 100 people were killed, and dozens were injured after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked a village in Gezira province in Sudan on Wednesday, officials said.
Sudanese RSF Paramilitaries Clash With The Army, Leaving At Least 100 People Dead
At least 100 people were killed, and dozens were injured after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked a village in Gezira province in Sudan on Wednesday, officials said. The Madani Resistance Committee, which has been threatened and attacked by the RSF in the past, accused the paramilitaries of looting Wad al-Noura in the midst of the attacks which it said started Wednesday morning.
The war between the RSF and the Sudanese army has wrecked the country as clashes spread across multiple cities and pushed its population to the brink of famine. More than 14,000 people have been killed and thousands have been wounded. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced. The RSF alleged on X late Wednesday that the Sudanese military planned to attack its troops in Jabal al- Awliya, in the west of al- Manaqil district, by mobilizing Sudanese armed forces in three bases.
The paramilitary group said it attacked three camps west, north and south of Wad-al Noura, clashing with the Sudanese army. Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, said Thursday on X that she was “shocked” by reports of the violent attacks. “Human tragedy has become a hallmark of life in Sudan. We cannot allow impunity to become another one,” she said.
Why is Sudan at war?
Sudan is seeing violence and fighting among groups amid an attempt to transition its polity from an autocracy. In 2019, military generals ousted Omar al-Bashir amid a popular uprising. People within the country and major powers were critical of his rule on account of corruption, rising costs of living towards the late 2010s, and repression of social groups. “Between the years 1992-1996, Sudan also played host to Osama Bin Laden who had heavily invested in the country’s infrastructure at the time.” The US then declared Sudan as a “state sponsor of terrorism” in 1993 and the United Nations imposed sanctions on it the next year.
After his regime was toppled in 2019, civilian groups and the military decided to share power and an agreement to the effect was signed. Abdalla Hamdok was appointed the Prime Minister until elections were held. However, a military coup under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), took place in 2021. The military coalition assured elections will take place and blamed the civilian groups for causing instability due to infighting. Critics believe that the military was reluctant to give up power to civilian leaders, having long played a role in Sudan’s political and economic affairs.
What is the situation in Sudan now?
Saudi Arabia and the United States led talks in Jeddah last year “to try to reach a truce between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but the negotiations faltered amid competing international peace initiatives.” More than 14,700 people have been killed in the war, according to Amnesty International. Nearly 9 million people have been forced to flee their homes either to safer areas inside Sudan or to neighboring countries, according to the United Nations. This also poses a challenger to the larger region.
