Bloodbath in Sudan after the fall of Darfur to the rebels

BarcelonaAfter 17 months of a fierce siegeOn Monday, Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of Al Fashir, the capital of the Darfur region, and now control much of the south and west of the African country. Their entry into the city has been followed by numerous atrocities against the civilian population, according to the United Nations. Sudan has been the scene of one of the world's worst humanitarian crises since 2023. when a brutal civil war broke out between the national army and the FSR, a militia that was attached to the armed forces.

The fall of Al Fashir was announced through a statement by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army leader and strongman of the country. In the statement, Al-Burhan announced the withdrawal of his troops from a military base near the city, a decision he justified by the desire to end the "systematic destruction and murder of civilians" in Al Fashir by the FSR. It is estimated that, during the siege, more than 250,000 people were trapped in the Darfur capital.

Since the paramilitary units entered the city, evidence of all kinds of atrocities against the civilian population has accumulated, along with denunciations from NGOs and international institutions. The UN Human Rights Commission has accused the militia of carrying out ethnically motivated "summary executions" in deliberate attacks against civilians trying to flee the city. The Sudanese army has estimated the death toll from the crackdown in Al Fashir over the past three days at around 2,000.

Even the most vulnerable sectors have not been spared the abuses, which have included sexual assaults against women and girls. an endemic problem in this conflictas well as attacks against hospitals and clinics. For example, the World Health Organization reported on Wednesday the killing of at least 460 patients and their companions at the Al Fashir Saudi Maternity Hospital.

More than 400,000 deaths and war crimes on both sides

Since the start of the civil war, it is estimated that more than 400,000 people have died, and both sides have been accused of committing war crimes. The outbreak of violence was so severe that the number of refugees and internally displaced persons has reached 12 million, while up to 30 million people are in need of humanitarian aid in a country of approximately 50 million inhabitants.

The root of the current conflict lies in the power struggle between the two main generals of the Sudanese army, Al Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, head of the FSR. Both officers allied themselves to halt the country's democratization and collaborated closely in the 2021 coup. This brought an end to the transition process that began after the fall of dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019, the result of a strong wave of popular mobilizations.

However, once power was consolidated in the hands of the army, differences emerged between the two generals. Specifically, Al-Burhan wanted to dissolve the FSR, which was becoming a kind of "state within a state." This project represented a serious threat to Hemedti, as it would have deprived him of his power base. Therefore, before the dissolution process could begin, he declared himself in rebellion.

A parallel government in the south

The conquest of Darfur holds great symbolic value for the FSR, as it was in this region that they originated more than two decades ago to suppress a local uprising. At that time, the militia was known as the Janjaweed and was accused of genocide. In a country as diverse and yet as centralized as Sudan, the FSR has exploited ethnic tensions like those in Darfur, as well as feelings of marginalization in some regions, to forge alliances with local actors and tribes.

In the first two years of the conflict, Hemedti's objective was to seize control of the capital, Khartoum, which became the scene of the fiercest fighting. However, in April The army managed to expel the FSR from the center of the countryAnd so the paramilitaries opted to concentrate on expanding the area under their control to the south and west of the country. Two months ago, Hemedti announced the creation of a parallel Sudanese government based in the south, raising fears of a partition.de factoof Sudan in two.

This Wednesday, Hemedti sought to dispel fears of a division of the country: "The release of Al Fashir is not a step towards separation, but towards the unity of Sudan," he said in a video message.

The international community, including countries in the region, reacted by issuing strong statements condemning the killings. "The problem is not only the fighting between the army and the SRF, but the growing foreign interference, which undermines the options for a ceasefire and a political solution," declared UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in a veiled reference to the United Arab Emirates, the SRF's main ally.