42 dead in attack by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces on village

KHARTOUM, Sudan

At least 42 people are dead following an attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Wad Oshaib village in central Sudan’s Al-Jazira state, local sources said Wednesday.

The Al-Jazira Conference, a local activist group, issued a statement accusing the RSF of committing “violations and mass killings” of civilians in the region.

The group has not responded to the allegation.

“RSF forces killed 42 people by gunfire Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, while 27 others died due to the siege and lack of medical care,” the statement said.

It noted that RSF personnel first attacked the village last Thursday, looting properties, terrorizing residents and imposing a tight blockade.

On Tuesday, local activists reported that the 27 people died due to the spread of epidemics and shortages of medicine and food caused by the RSF’s siege.

Clashes between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces resumed in Al-Jazira on Oct. 20 after Abu Aqla Kikil, the RSF paramilitary commander in the state, defected and declared his allegiance to the army.

By December 2023, Kikil’s RSF faction had taken control of several cities in Al-Jazira, including Wad Madani, the state’s capital.

The RSF currently controls large swaths of Al-Jazira, excluding the town of Al-Manaqil and its surrounding areas, which stretch southward to the border of Sennar State and westward to the border of White Nile State.

Since mid-April last year, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been engaged in a conflict that has resulted in more than 20,000 deaths and displaced nearly 10 million people, according to the UN.

There have been growing calls from the UN and international bodies to end the conflict, as the war has pushed millions of Sudanese to the brink of famine and death due to food shortages, with the fighting spreading to 13 of Sudan's 18 states.