Sudan: 11 killed in Rapid Support Forces attack on displaced persons in West Darfur
Agencies2 min read
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Sudanese authorities announced on Sunday that 11 people were killed and 5 others injured, mostly women and children, in an attack launched by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a camp for displaced persons in West Darfur state, in the west of the country.
The official Sudan News Agency quoted the Minister of Health for the Darfur region, Babiker Hamdeen, as condemning what he described as a "bloody massacre" committed by the RSF on Saturday against displaced persons in the Hajar Sanakit area in Sirba locality, West Darfur state.
Hamdeen stated that the attack targeted a camp for displaced persons and resulted, according to preliminary statistics, in the death of 11 people and the injury of 5 others, most of whom were children and women.
He considered the targeting of camps for displaced persons and defenseless civilians a "horrific crime and a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law," reflecting the RSF's disregard for civilian lives.
He added that the attack is part of a series of violations and crimes committed by the RSF against civilians in Darfur.
Hamdeen explained that the victims had been displaced last year from several villages near the Sudanese-Chadian border, after the RSF burned their villages and looted their property.
He warned that the continued silence of the international community regarding these repeated crimes contributes to entrenching impunity and encourages the RSF to commit further violations.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF regarding the accusations leveled against it.
Out of 18 states in Sudan, the RSF controls the five Darfur states in the west, with the exception of parts of North and West Darfur states that remain under the control of the army, which exerts its influence over most of the remaining 13 states, including the capital, Khartoum.
Humanitarian suffering is worsening in Sudan as a result of the war between the army and the RSF that erupted in April 2023 due to a dispute over the unification of the military institution, which has caused the deaths of tens of thousands and the displacement of about 13 million people.
