As Sudan’s army routs RSF from Khartoum, Sudanese reactions are mixed

As the army moves across the capital, Khartoum to overthrow the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a large number of Sudanese civilians are welcoming the liberator.

However, activists on the ground claim that both sides are using more brutal tactics, which are worsening the humanitarian crisis.

On February 1, the paramilitary fired artillery in a crowded market in Omdurman, killing at least 56 people.

The RSF detained the manager of one of the last remaining hospitals in Khartoum, which is located in a historically underrepresented “southern belt,” where ethnic minorities from Sudan’s peripheral regions are overwhelmingly found to be most common.

The three people’s fate was unknown to Al Jazeera.

The army, meanwhile, is encountering stiffer resistance from the RSF in central Khartoum and in the sprawling Sharq el-Nile (East Nile) district. Last week, it placed a partial siege on these city districts, according to activists on the ground.

“Right now, the city is besieged…and the only way out of it is heading west to Darfur, but this route is targeted by]army] drones and fighter jets”, said Augreis*, a local activist and humanitarian volunteer residing in east Khartoum.

They told Al Jazeera, “Many families have been killed trying to escape this way.”

Bittersweet return

The RSF and army have engaged in a brutal conflict over national security since April 2023.

The conflict has caused the “largest humanitarian crisis in the world,” with about 12.5 million people being displaced from their homes and tens of thousands of people believed to have died from armed violence.

Across the country, the RSF has confiscated people’s land and houses after expelling Indigenous communities and inhabitants.

In Khartoum North and Omduman, two of the three cities that make up the country’s capital region, RSF fighters left their homes and fled to Darfur, their traditional stronghold, after the army made advances there.

Local activist and relief worker Montasser reported to Al Jazeera that many displaced people are ecstatic that the army has expelled the RSF, and that they are gradually returning to their homes in Omdurman.

He noted, however, that many remain displaced because their homes – and sometimes entire neighbourhoods – were significantly damaged or destroyed.

The RSF “allowed many people to lose their homes, and everything inside their homes was looted.” Additionally, their neighborhoods have no access to water or electricity, and their internet is unavailable. “The army still has to remove corpses from the streets,” Montasser said.

Some flee in fear of reprisals

According to activists on the ground, a large number of civilians have fled Khartoum in recent weeks because they fear the army and its allies will murder them.

Rights groups, activists, and victims of the attacks allege that the army targets local relief workers, doctors, and people they believe are from western or southern Sudan.

After their parents fled devastating wars in South Sudan, the Nuba Mountains, and Darfur in the 1990s and 2000s, hundreds of thousands of people from western or southern tribes were born and raised in Khartoum.

“The fear on many people’s faces is very obvious. They are very scared and they don’t feel entitled to]Khartoum]”, Augreis, the relief worker in east Khartoum, said.

“Yes, they were born here, but they have the feeling that this place is not theirs. If you are from the north or the east]of Sudan], you feel more entitled to Khartoum right now”, Augreis told Al Jazeera.

She explained that many people quickly fled or prepared to flee Khartoum after they saw the army commit what she described as “massacres” and “ethnic cleansing” in Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira state, Sudan’s breadbasket.

The Kanabi, which house exploited workers from West and South Sudan, were systematic targets when army-backed fighters took control of the city last month.

Hundreds of people were killed based on suspicion they supported the RSF due to their ethnic origins, according to victims, local monitors and the army’s leadership, which blamed the acts of “individuals” for the violations.

According to the UN Human Rights Office, army-backed fighter groups have retaken Khartoum North and extrajudicially killed 18 people based on their alleged ethnic background.

Army spokesperson, Nabil Abdullah, denies the allegations.

“These accusations are not correct”, he told Al Jazeera. The Sudanese Armed Forces are “absolutely committed to upholding international law, international law, and international conventions.”

Raids and looting

RSF fighters have scavenged numerous homes over the past three weeks to steal electronics, gold, and money before fleeing to areas the army then seized.

The RSF is terrifying residents of Sharq el-Nile by seizing money, gold, and Starlink internet kits, which give civilians access to satellite internet when network service is in jeopardy.

Musab*, a local relief worker, said RSF fighters stormed his home on February 3 and assaulted all the men.

In an ostensible attempt to hoard them, they confiscated cellphones and Starlink devices, but Musab made a quick cover for his.

Musab claims that the RSF is aware of local relief workers’ attempts to rob them, whether they are from the Sudanese diaspora or international aid organizations.

Because they are aware that we are getting some money, the RSF is looking for local relief workers. So they’re looking for us and trying to get access to our accounts”, he said.

The RSF’s press office was contacted by Al Jazeera in writing to respond to accusations that it is looting and attacking civilians as the army advances.

By the time of publication, the press office had not received a response.

Musab insists that the RSF’s abuses in Sharq el-Nile are becoming unbearable.

“Every day, I move from house to house. I can never stay in one place, so I can evade them”, he told Al Jazeera.

“I’m more afraid of the RSF than the army at this time”, he said.

Source: Aljazeera