Sudan army allies intentionally targeting civilians: HRW

According to an international NGO on human rights, armed groups fighting alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been intentionally targeting civilians.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleged that members of the military government had attacked villagers in central Sudan and carried out acts that might constitute war crimes in a report released on Tuesday, and that an investigation was needed.

In the course of 20 months of a bloody civil war, international human rights organizations have repeatedly accused SAF’s rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of carrying out ethnic cleansing and even genocide. However, there have also been numerous reports of army abuses.

In the report, HRW said SAF-aligned groups, including the Sudan Shield Forces, the al-Baraa Ibn Malik battalion and local militias, may also be committing war crimes.

In their most recent offensive in Gezira state, senior crisis, conflict, and arms researcher at HRW, Jean-Baptiste Gallopin, said, “Armed groups fighting alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces have carried out violent abuses against civilians.”

The HRW report documented that in an attack on January 10, the Sudan Shield Forces attacked the village of Tayba, in the Gezira state, killing at least 26 people, including a child, and injuring others.

Witnesses claimed that armed fighters who identified Abu Aqla Keikel, the Sudan Shield Forces leader, fired indiscriminately at residents and searched homes and neighborhoods for men and boys to execute. Additionally, it is said that they allegedly set fire to the village’s buildings.

The survivors’ accounts were supported by HRW’s verified verification of satellite imagery, photos, and videos, which claimed the incident was one of several attacks against regions thought to be RSF supporters in the area following their army’s recent capture of them from the paramilitary group.

The SAF has pledged to hold the perpetrators accountable for the abuse. However, it insisted that the actions were “individual transgressions”.

Tayba residents said government investigators had visited the site and interviewed key witnesses, and added that the Joint Force of the Armed Movements, an SAF-aligned coalition, had deployed forces to protect the population.

However, HRW noted that SAF generals, including General Yasir al-Atta, who sits on Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council, have publicly appeared with Keikel since January 10, and praised his contribution to the war effort.

Gallopin urged Sudanese authorities to immediately look into all allegations of abuse and hold accountable those responsible, including Sudan Shield Forces commanders.