Sudan's RSF massacres 433 people as it forms parallel ‘peace government’
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a brutal three-day attack, killing 433 people in White Nile state, as its leaders arrived in Kenya to announce a parallel “peace and unity” government.
Sudan's foreign ministry said infants were among those killed in what it described on Tuesday as “the worst atrocity” committed by the RSF since “the genocide in Geneina and Ardamita” in August and November 2023.
“This horrific massacre confirms that the militia's war is actually against the entire Sudanese people," the ministry added.
Emergency Lawyers, a group of lawyers who monitor the war in Sudan, said the RSF attacked unarmed civilians, including women and children, in in al-Kadaris and al-Khalwat, villages in rural parts of el-Geteina in White Nile state.
It said that the paramilitary group carried out field executions, kidnappings, enforced disappearances and looting of property, putting the death toll at 200.
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“Fleeing people who tried to cross the Nile were also subjected to live bullets, which led to their drowning in a deliberate crime of genocide,” Emergency Lawyers said.
The monitoring group added that the RSF bore direct responsibility for the attacks, which constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law.
'Fleeing people who tried to cross the Nile were also subjected to live bullets, which led to their drowning in a deliberate crime of genocide'
- Emergency Doctors
The RSF and Sudan’s army, led by de-facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, have been at war since April 2023.
The conflict has displaced more than 10 million people, and left over 12 million facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
The latest massacre comes as senior RSF leaders and allied figures arrived in the Kenyan capital to set the wheels in motion for the formation of a parallel government in areas the paramilitary group controls.
Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy commander of the RSF and brother of its leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (commonly known as Hemeti), arrived in Nairobi on Tuesday for the two-day conference.
A political charter “for the government of peace and unity”, as it’s being dubbed, is set to be signed on Wednesday.
Jihad Mashamoun, a Sudanese researcher and political analyst, said the RSF were using the rival government to gain legitimacy while suffering military losses.
“The RSF has been losing ground since September because of the sophisticated weaponry the de-facto government and its allies have,” he told Middle East Eye.
Sudan’s armed forces had recaptured territory it had previously lost to the RSF, he noted, and was moving from central Sudan to the west of the country.
According to Mashamoun, the RSF is forming a new government to ensure it is not left out of a future transitional agreement.
Sudan's foreign ministry said: “Anyone who participates in or supports the militia in its planned propaganda movement, under the guise of signing a political charter sponsored by its regional sponsors and those who follow their orders in the region, is complicit in its crimes and atrocities against the Sudanese people.”
New government 'will acquire warplanes'
Al-Hadi Idris, a nominee for the parallel government and former member of Sudan’s transitional Sovereign Council, told Al Jazeera that several countries had pledged to recognise the new government. He declined to name them.
Last week, at the sidelines of the African Union summit, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pledged $200m in aid to Sudan, while Ethiopia pledged $15m and Kenya $1m.
Idris said that these funds “will only go to the peace government”.
“It's highly possible that they believe they have the backing of the United Arab Emirates,” said Mashamoun.
'It's highly possible that they believe they have the backing of the UAE'
- Jihad Mashamoun, Sudanese analyst
Middle East Eye has reported on the UAE financially and militarily aiding the RSF via allied groups and governments in Libya, Chad, Uganda and the Central African Republic (CAR). The UAE denies providing such support.
Idris said: “The new government will purchase weapons to defend citizens, acquire warplanes and train personnel. This is part of the defence ministry’s tasks.”
He added that the new government planned to create a unified army made up of various militias, including the RSF, and would look to open border crossings and airspace.
Idris is among a number of figures in Sudan who were once part of the country’s revolutionary movement, who later formed the “Tagadum” civilian coalition. The alliance was disbanded earlier this month.
“When the conflict started, they claimed that they were neutral. But from what I have seen and the reports I've been reading, they've not been neutral,” said Mashamoun, referring to some senior figures in Tagadum, like Idris.
“They sided mostly with Hemeti and the RSF, and they hoped that international backing would be there to support them.”
Following the signing of the charter in Nairobi, the so-called peace and unity government will officially launch in Sudan.
“After signing the political charter, we will discuss the issue of authority and who will assume positions, and we will announce the government in two or three weeks,” Idris said.
Last week, the RSF carried out a two-day attack on Zamzam camp, where the largest amount of Sudanese internally displaced by the 2003-2005 Darfur genocide reside.
It left the area in North Darfur in complete ruins, razing markets and livestock and killing and wounding dozens.
“People who were already very vulnerable have now no access to food or water. Some of them have no shelter, as some neighbourhoods have been burned down, and it’s very cold at night,” Michel-Olivier Lacharite, of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), who is currently in the North Darfur town of Tawila, told MEE.
The camp is located near al-Fasher, the only city in the Darfur region under the control of Sudan’s army.
The RSF has laid siege to the city since April, cutting off supply routes and attacking surrounding areas.
A report released last year by the Raoul Wallenberg Centre concluded that a genocide was taking place against non-Arab groups in Darfur at the hands of the RSF and allied militias.
The United States has also accused the RSF of genocide and sanctioned Hemeti.
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