After a major paramilitary leader defected to the army’s side last month, the RSF launched a series of attacks on Al-Jazira communities, this one being the most recent in a month-long campaign.
After a month of increasing violence in Al-Jazira state, a physician from a community in central Sudan told AFP that 40 people had been killed in an attack by paramilitary troops.
Following several attacks on hospital staff, the medic from Wad Rawah Hospital, located just north of Wad Oshaib village, stated, “All 40 people suffered direct gunshot wounds,” demanding anonymity for their protection.
Witnesses reported that the community, which is 100 kilometers north of Wad Madani, the capital of Al-Jazira, was first attacked on Tuesday night by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been at war with the army since mid-April 2023.
On Wednesday, an eyewitness called AFP and said, “The attack resumed this morning,” adding that fighters were “looting property.”
After a major paramilitary leader defected to the army’s side last month, the RSF launched a series of attacks on Al-Jazira communities, this one being the most recent in a month-long campaign.
In the state, a vital agricultural area that was formerly thought of as Sudan’s breadbasket, more than 340,000 people have been forced from their homes, according to the UN.
According to Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, the violence in Al-Jazira “is putting the lives of tens of thousands of people at risk” on Friday.
Tens of thousands of people have already died in the conflict between the RSF, which is led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, and the army, which is led by Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Over 11 million people have also been displaced by it, with over 3 million of them escaping beyond Sudan’s borders.
Under siege villages
Both sides of the bloody conflict have been charged with war crimes; RSF forces are alleged to have besieged entire villages, carried out summary executions, and routinely looted civilian property.
The UN, rights organizations, and eyewitnesses have stated that settlements in eastern Al-Jazira have been completely besieged in recent weeks, leading to worsening humanitarian situations.
owing to the lack of basic supplies, scores of people in the community of Al-Hilaliya have become ill “allegedly due to poisoned food.”
On Friday, Dujarric of the United Nations stated that a large number of displaced people who were coming to neighboring states “had walked for days and arrived with nothing but the clothes on their backs.”
Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are dealing with cholera, destroyed infrastructure, and impending hunger even in places that are not affected by the war.
“They are now sheltering in the open, including children, women, older persons and people who are sick,” Dujarric continued.
Eighty percent of health facilities in conflict-affected areas have been forced to close due to the fighting, according to UN and health officials.
With 26 million people experiencing severe hunger, Sudan is currently dealing with one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent memory, according to the UN.
