KHARTOUM — On December 15, Sudanese civilians woke up to the
sounds of gunfire and explosions in Wad Madani, a city under army control that
hosts hundreds of thousands of displaced people from the capital Khartoum, and
nearby towns.
اضافة اعلان
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had attacked the city,
raising fears that the group would loot homes, kill men, and rape women if they
captured it.
“They rape [women] to break the spirits of men,” Omonia Kheir*, a
Sudanese woman from Wad Madani, told Al Jazeera. “That’s why people here are
not scared of dying or getting shot because then you die as a martyr. But
everyone is scared of [women in their families] getting raped.”
After eight months of war, the RSF is on the verge of capturing
Wad Madani, the second-largest city in the country’s heartland, in what will
mark a major turn in the conflict. Just last week, RSF leader Mohamad Hamdan
“Hemedti” Dagalo agreed to meet top army general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan later
this month under the auspices of the East African bloc IGAD.
But even as RSF commanders call for an end to the war with foreign
leaders, their fighters are instigating a new humanitarian catastrophe on the
ground.
While the RSF has reportedly invaded the city and looted banks and
shops, the army has responded with air strikes, even as its foot soldiers
retreat.
Most residents support the army, yet few believe they will regain
control of the city.
Most aid groups and UN agencies have also evacuated foreign staff
and closed operations in Wad Madani, said Will Carter, the country director for
the Norwegian Refugee Council in Sudan.
He told Al Jazeera that aid groups did not want to get trapped in
a situation where the RSF captured the city, prompting the army to respond with
heavy and indiscriminate air strikes.
Carter added that the RSF has “shaken” the already hampered
humanitarian response, which operates almost entirely out of the army’s de
facto capital in Port Sudan.
“Wad Madani was a gateway to reach three or four other nearby
cities with aid,” he said. “But if the RSF sweeps Wad Madani, then it sweeps
Sudan’s heartland. Logistically, it will make things quite difficult [for aid
agencies] and the question then becomes where the RSF will go next if the army
can’t shore up a defense.”
Unlawful arrests and killings?
During the first two days of the offensive, rumors circulated that
the RSF had sleeper cells in Wad Madani, prompting the army to unlawfully
arrest dozens of young men suspected of cooperating with the group.
Residents say that those detained were targeted based on their
accent or ethnicity, which hints that they’re from traditionally neglected
regions like Darfur – an RSF stronghold.
In one video circulating over the social media platform X, a young
man has both knees on the ground and is surrounded by a crowd of people. He is
then interrogated about his job, origins, and if he had been recruited by the
RSF. The young man denies any involvement.
Sinnar is south of Wad Madani and has absorbed thousands of
displaced people over the last four days. Mohamad al-Gaali, who was living in
Khartoum before the war, passed through with his two sisters and their children
before reaching Gadarif, a city near the Ethiopian border.
Gaali told Al Jazeera that aid agencies were slow to respond to
the humanitarian crisis in Sinnar.
“Aid groups have not started to help there, but local initiatives
were trying to provide us with food and shelter,” he said. “Those people were
just locals trying to help us, but there were no contributions from
[international aid groups].”
Despite local efforts, Kheir believes that no amount of generosity
can save the city and its inhabitants from the RSF. After already being
uprooted from Khartoum earlier in the war, she said that her family doesn’t
have the resources to relocate again.
After nearly eight months of conflict in Sudan, RSF seems to be
strengthening its control over the Darfur region and parts of Khartoum.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese Armed SAF have been retreating, ceding territory to the
RSF, and their leadership is directing operations from Port Sudan. The national
government, led by SAF Chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, maintains control
over central and eastern states, the Nile River north of Khartoum, and Red Sea
ports.
Observers compare the situation to Libya, suggesting a division in the
country with two governments and armies. On November 20, the RSF reportedly
took control of Jebel Aulia, south of Khartoum, including a helicopter base and
a lock-and-dam facility on the White Nile.
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