Sudan fighters evict Khartoum residents, as clashes in Darfur rage
4 Min Read
At least 3,900 people have died and almost 3.5 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict in Sudan.
-
Sudanese refugees who fled the conflict in Sudan gather on July 10, 2023, at the Zabout refugee Camp in Chad (AP)
As violence between the forces of rival generals raged in the western Darfur region, many locals alleged Sunday that Sudan's paramilitaries had forced citizens to leave their houses in the capital's south.
"Members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) told me I had 24 hours to leave the area," Fawzy Radwan, a Khartoum resident told AFP, after taking care of his family's house since the conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese army broke out in the city more than three months ago.
At least 3,900 people have died and almost 3.5 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict between army leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
Many of the fighting incidents have taken place in Khartoum's densely populated neighborhoods, driving 1.7 million people from their homes and forcing the millions of those who are still there to seek refuge from the crossfire in their homes amid scarce water and power.
Some locals said on Sunday that hundreds of residents were being evicted from the Jabra neighborhood in southern Khartoum.
The army artillery corps, as well as an RSF installation that Dagalo uses, are located in Jabra and the adjoining community of Sahafa.
"They told us this is a military zone now and they don't want civilians around," resident Nasser Hussein told AFP.
Since the start of the fighting on April 15, the RSF has been charged with widespread looting and forcible eviction of residents from their houses.
Some of the worst acts of violence, along with those in Khartoum, have occurred in the war-torn area of Darfur, where accusations of war crimes have spurred a new investigation by the International Criminal Court.
Witnesses reported that bombs were dropped on residential areas during clashes in Nyala, Sudan's second-biggest city.
Read: Sudanese civilians declare dissatisfaction with RSF: Reports
According to a military source who spoke to AFP on Sunday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to address the media, the army "killed 16 rebels and captured 14, including an officer" in the Central Darfur state capital Zalingei.
According to Issa Adam, who spoke to AFP from a displacement camp, days of "bombs repeatedly falling in our homes" have sent civilians escaping Nyala, adding that many are "now out in the open during the rainy reason."
After explosives killed the neighbors of civilian Mohamed Khater, he left Nyala too with his family.
From a close camp, he told AFP that "no organization has reached us, and we're scared of the fighting reaching us."
Since the conflict broke out, more than 2.6 million people have been displaced within Sudan and more than 800,000 have crossed the border into neighboring countries.
It is worth noting that over half of Sudan's 48 million people now require humanitarian assistance to live, but the UN and relief organizations are failing to assist owing to a shortage of permissions from the government and cash from foreign donors.
According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, the country is "on the verge of collapse," detailing that "Sudan was already facing an overwhelming and vastly neglected humanitarian crisis before the war broke out. The first 100 days of fighting have brought it to catastrophic levels."
The situation is expected to worsen during the rainy season, which heightens the risk of flood, famine, and the spread of diseases, including malaria and cholera.
