UN Report: Approx. 15000 dead in ethnic violence in west Darfur, Sudan

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
20 Jan 2024 14:14

A report by UN sanctions monitors underscores that between 10,000 and 15,000 people have been killed by the Rapid Support Forces and allies in West Darfur since the beginning of the conflict in Sudan.

In this June 22, 2019 file photo, a Sudanese soldier from the Rapid Support Forces, stands on his vehicle during a military-backed tribe's rally, in the East Nile province, Sudan. (AP)

A United Nations report by independent UN sanctions monitors published on Friday revealed that between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in a single city in Sudan's West Darfur region last year, as ethnic violence by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allies surged.

The report, which was presented to the UN Security Council, attributed the numbers in the death toll in El Geneina to intelligence sources, and then contrasted it with the UN's broader estimation of approximately 12,000 people killed across Sudan since the outbreak of conflict on April 15, 2023.

Significantly, the sanctions monitors, in their report, also acknowledged "credible" allegations that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had supplied military assistance to the RSF "several times per week" through Amdjarass in northern Chad.

In turn, the report also underscored that a senior Sudanese military official had accused the UAE of supporting the RSF's wartime activities back in November.

"The attacks were planned, coordinated, and executed by RSF and their allied Arab militias," the sanctions monitors wrote in their annual report.

Al-Burhan rejects reconciliation with RSF, vows to continue conflict

Sudan's military general and de facto leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, rejected earlier this month the most recent reconciliation attempts with his rival paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Instead, he has affirmed his commitment to continuing a nine-month-long conflict with the RSF.

"The whole world witnessed these rebel forces (RSF) committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in West Darfur and the rest of Sudan," al-Burhan told troops gathered in Port Sudan in a video released by his office on Friday, referring to the ethnic cleansing in and around the West Darfur city of El Geneina.

"For that reason, we have no reconciliation with them, we have no agreement with them," he added.

He further stressed that the RSF "doesn’t seek the good for the country" and accused it of engaging in the looting of people's properties.

At the same time, he extended an invitation for dialogue with Sudanese politicians, urging them to dissociate themselves from the RSF and its leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.