Sudanese govt accuses Rapid Support Forces of killing 120 civilians in 2 days

The Sudanese foreign ministry accused paramilitaries late Thursday of causing at least 120 civilian deaths over two days in Al-Jazira state, where fighting has raged since last month.

This comes as local and international accusations have escalated in recent days against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of "committing violations and mass killings" against civilians in Al-Jazeera State, without any comment from the militia.

"The Janjaweed militia (paramilitaries) committed a new massacre in the town of Hilaliya in Al-Jazira state over the past two days, resulting in 120 martyrs so far, killed either by gunfire or due to food poisoning and lack of medical care affecting hundreds of civilians," the ministry said in a statement.

The army-backed government routinely refers to the paramilitary RSF, which it has been fighting since April 2023, as Janjaweed, an infamous militia recruited by the then government in Khartoum to suppress an ethnic minority rebellion in the western region of Darfur two decades ago.

The Sudan's Doctors Union said that "after looting and stealing all the possessions of residents in Hilaliya, the militia detained people inside mosques, only allowing them to leave after paying large sums, which are impossible to afford after the extensive looting and theft".

Witnesses say that the RSF has imposed a two-week siege on the town, preventing residents from leaving.

The RSF recently intensified attacks against civilians in Al-Jazira state after one of its key commanders, Abu Aqla Kikil, who was from the state, defected to the Sudanese army.

Last month, at least 200 people were killed in the state, which is under army control, according to an AFP tally based on medical and activist sources. The United Nations said that 135,000 civilians were displaced.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry called for the RSF to be classified as "a terrorist group” and for "its leaders and members to be prosecuted under international law, and for anyone who helps, supports or hosts its leaders and spokesmen to be considered a sponsor of terrorism and an accomplice in its crimes".

The conflict in Sudan pits the regular army, under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, against the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The Sudanese army has also been accused of war crimes, including deliberately targeting civilians and using starvation as a weapon of war.

On Friday, the RSF that more than 60 civilians were killed and hundreds wounded in an army air strike on a displacement camp in North Darfur.

"The heinous assault... destroyed Al-Farouq Primary School, which was sheltering over 35 displaced families in the town of Al-Kuma," a spokesman said on the RSF's official Telegram channel. "Hundreds were wounded as a result of the strike, which involved more than seven missiles and bombs."

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, 3.1 million of them as refugees abroad, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Agencies contributed to this report