2023-06-15 12:33:40
Darfur cities under bombardment…and the United Nations talks regarding “war crimes”
On Wednesday, several cities in the states of Darfur, western Sudan, witnessed an intensification of battles, with the expansion of the scope of the conflict, which entered its third month in the country, while the number of people who fled their homes due to violence exceeded two million.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, expressed his deep concern regarding the increasing sectarian dimension of violence, as well as reports of sexual violence, while his envoy to Sudan, Volker Peretz, indicated that some acts of violence may amount to “crimes once morest humanity.”
The city of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, witnessed the fiercest fighting, which led to the fleeing of the population. Khamis Abkar, the governor of West Darfur state, called on the international community to intervene to stop what he described as “genocide”.
Random kill
“Citizens are being killed very randomly and in large numbers,” Abkar said. He added that although the Rapid Support Forces and their allied militias were initially targeting areas in El Geneina, where members of the African Masalit tribe live, these attacks have now spread to the entire city. He continued, “We did not see the people’s armed forces leaving their barracks, at least to defend the citizens.”
The city of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, also witnessed clashes. The Darfur Bar Association, a local group that monitors the violence, said on Wednesday that artillery shelling hit civilian homes in Nyala. “The attack might start once more at any moment, and we do not feel safe,” Salah al-Amin, 39, told Archyde.com. The authority added that Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur state, is currently under siege.
Relatively calm prevails in the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, but the city of Kutum, which is controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, is witnessing a wave of displacement.
A spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said the secretary-general was “extremely concerned regarding the increasing sectarian dimension to the violence, as well as reports of sexual violence.”
The United Nations warns
In a statement on Wednesday, Volker Peretz, head of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNITAMIS), expressed deep concern regarding the continuing deterioration of the security situation in Darfur, particularly in the city of El Geneina, following the waves of violence that took on ethnic dimensions.
He added that the United Nations continues to collect additional details regarding these reports, noting that there is an emerging pattern of large-scale attacks targeting civilians on the basis of their ethnic identities, which were allegedly perpetrated by Arab militias and some armed men wearing Rapid Support Forces uniforms.
Peretz said these reports are deeply troubling and, if verified, might amount to “crimes once morest humanity.”
The United Nations statement condemned all attacks targeting civilians and infrastructure, whatever their form and by whomsoever alleged perpetrators, calling on security forces and non-state armed actors to abide by international humanitarian law, respect the right to life and refrain from attacks once morest civilians.
The statement indicated that since the outbreak of the conflict between the army and the “rapid support” forces, the security, human rights and humanitarian situation continued to deteriorate throughout the country, especially in the regions of Greater Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan.
The statement stated that the United Nations is unable at this stage to verify all alleged violations of human rights, and that information received from civil society entities and networks of human rights defenders paints a clear picture of the extent of the devastating impact on the population.
Volker Peretz confirmed that the UN mission will continue its efforts to engage with all parties in order to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict, in coordination with regional and international partners.
The Darfur region of Sudan has been witnessing intermittent conflict since the beginning of the current century, a conflict that has led to the displacement of millions and the killing of 300,000 people in attacks launched by the Arab “Janjaweed” militias. The Rapid Support Forces were born out of these militias, and became a legal government force in 2017.
The International Criminal Court charged ousted President Omar al-Bashir and a number of his aides with committing genocide, crimes once morest humanity and war crimes in Darfur. The conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces caused a humanitarian crisis in the capital, Khartoum, and other cities, such as El-Obeid, Nyala, El-Fasher, and El-Geneina. It is estimated that more than 1,100 people were killed in these cities as a result of the fighting.
According to the Sudan Medical Association, the civilian death toll has risen to 958, and 4,746 people have been injured across the country. The (non-governmental) union said in a statement on Wednesday that these statistics do not include many cases of killings and injuries that might not reach hospitals due to the difficulty of movement and the security situation throughout the country.
A “catastrophic situation” in West Darfur
The union stated that the situation in the city of El Geneina in the state of West Darfur is catastrophic, and it is the worst ever, as a large number of victims, including children, women and the elderly, fell as a result of the fighting.
She added, “It was not possible to count all the victims because all hospitals in the city were out of service, communications were cut off, and they were surrounded by armed militias.”
Local sources said that the Sudanese army carried out air strikes once morest sites of the Rapid Support Forces on the outskirts of the city of El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, while areas in the capital, Khartoum, witnessed sporadic clashes between the two parties.
It was reported that armed militias backed by the “Rapid Support” forces were behind the killing, looting and destruction that affected the city, which, in turn, accused the army of being behind aggravating the situation in Darfur and pushing for confrontations of a tribal nature.
Accusations of “remnants of the former regime”
In a statement, the Rapid Support Forces called for the formation of an urgent committee of the fighting tribal parties and the native administration, to communicate and coordinate with them and the army forces to calm the situation, and deliver humanitarian aid to civilians, calling for the formation of a fact-finding committee to uncover those involved in the crisis.
The statement confirmed that the “rapid support” forces were neutral in the crisis in West Darfur, and accordingly issued strict instructions to their members not to interfere and remain in their areas of control.
The statement said, “We do not rule out that the arms of the defunct regime distributed Rapid Support uniforms to their subversive elements in order to break the weapons stores and distribute weapons to one of the parties to the conflict in order to fuel the battles.”
In its statement, the Rapid Support Forces indicated that its negotiating delegation in the ongoing talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah submitted a request to obtain the army’s approval to open the “Al-Geneina” airport to operate an air bridge to deliver humanitarian aid to all cities of Darfur, in coordination with local communities.
Residents of the city of El-Obeid, which lies between Khartoum and Darfur, said that the army began launching air strikes and artillery shelling on sites belonging to the Rapid Support Forces. The Rapid Support Forces control the roads branching out of the city, and have agreed with local tribal leaders to secure the area from armed gangs.
Inside Khartoum, residents reported air and artillery strikes in the southern and eastern neighborhoods of the city on Wednesday.
continued migration
The United Nations said late Tuesday that regarding 1.7 million people have been internally displaced, while more than 500,000 people have left the country.
And the city of Port Sudan is under the control of the army. The city overlooks the Red Sea, and calm prevails, and it is one of the destinations that people flee from their homes. Preparatory school exams began in the city of Port Sudan on Wednesday, and the pilgrims began leaving for Mecca to perform the Hajj.
Ahmed Taha, a resident of Khartoum, told Agence France-Presse, on Wednesday, “We are left without food, drink or medicine… Bullets and shells are everywhere.” He added, “Any region in Sudan now has become a disaster.” A citizen in Khartoum told AFP on Wednesday: “We do not know what the end of this war will be… We only pray to God to lift the calamity.”
“We are suffering,” said Suha Abdel Rahman, a Sudanese woman who lives in the capital. We suffer from the scourge of war, and only God knows our condition.”
It is noteworthy that communication with Sudan in general is difficult, and information regarding what is happening on the ground is not available accurately from independent sources, especially in Darfur in the west of the country. The Sudanese suffer from multiple crises due to lack of fuel, food and liquidity.
Marches on the line
In Khartoum, a military official, who asked not to be named, told Agence France-Presse that the “rapid support” forces used “drones” in their attack on the armored corps on Tuesday, which raises doubts regarding where they got them from?
On the other hand, a source from the “rapid support” forces told the French Press Agency, “We got them from the army centers that we took control of.”
A military expert believes that this development “will have an impact on the course of the war,” expecting that the “rapid support” forces “obtained it from the Yarmouk Factory for Military Industries” in southern Khartoum.
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