RSF UNDER FIRE: SUDANESE GROUPS DECRY 'ETHNIC CLEANSING' IN AL FASHER. (PHOTO).

 RSF under fire: Sudanese groups decry 'ethnic cleansing' in Al Fasher

Sudanese groups have accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of killing civilians based on their ethnicities and plundering health facilities in Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur in western Sudan.

“In a heinous massacre committed by the RSF yesterday evening in Al Fasher – adding to their widespread crimes across Al Fasher and the Darfur region – the RSF killed unarmed civilians on ethnic grounds in what amounts to an act of ethnic cleansing,” the Sudan Doctors Network said on Monday in a statement on X.

The medical group said dozens of people were killed by the RSF on Sunday, citing reports from its field teams.

“It remains difficult to access the affected areas due to the complete security collapse caused by the RSF,” the statement added.

Fighting raged on between the army and the rebel group on Sunday in the city, which serves as the humanitarian operations centre for the five Darfur states.

“Innocent people from Al Fasher are being subjected to the most heinous types of violence and ethnic cleansing,” the civilian-led Al Fasher Resistance Committees said in a statement.

The committee added that fierce fighting was still raging on in the city’s western part.

It warned that army forces, allied fighters, and civilians are facing extremely dire humanitarian conditions in the city amid a continued siege by the RSF and lack of food, logistical, and air support.

Over 1,000 civilians flee Al Fasher

A total of 1,117 new internally displaced people (IDPs) have arrived in Tawila in North Darfur state after fleeing the city of Al Fasher due to intensified violence, a Sudanese civil society organisation said Monday.

The Displaced Persons Coordination, a local NGO, said in a statement that 1,117 individuals from 360 families arrived in Tawila on Sunday after fleeing Al Fasher.

This brought the total number of displaced families reaching Tawila between October 18 and 27 to 831 families of 3,038 people, according to the same statement.

The displaced families “are living in dire humanitarian conditions and lack even the most basic necessities for survival,” Adam Regal, spokesperson for the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced Persons, a local NGO, told Anadolu Agency.

“These families urgently need life-saving services, including water, healthcare, nutrition, food, shelter, protection, education, and psychosocial support,” Regal said, urging the UN and humanitarian agencies to intervene immediately.

Field executions, looting, abductions

Al Fasher has witnessed fierce fighting for weeks between the army and the RSF, following a multi-front assault by the paramilitary group, which has surrounded the city from five directions in an attempt to seize control of it due to its strategic importance.

The RSF has been besieging Al Fasher since May 10, 2024.

The doctors network also said that 47 civilians were killed, including nine women, inside their homes in RSF attacks in Bara city of North Kordofan in central Sudan.

It accused the rebel group of carrying out field executions, looting of property, and abductions of civilians “in an attempt to spread fear among residents.”

The group called on the international community to take immediate action to protect civilians in Sudan and to launch an international investigation to hold the RSF leaders accountable.

Emergency Lawyers, an independent Sudanese legal group, also accused the RSF of “committing a horrific massacre against civilians” in Bara city.

According to the group, hundreds of residents, mostly youngsters, were killed by the rebel group amid widespread acts of looting and vandalism targeting public and private property.

The legal group held the RSF fully responsible for these crimes and called on the international community and the UN to “take urgent action to stop the massacre and protect civilians.”

There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the accusations.

The army and the RSF have been fighting since April 2023, which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.