The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on Thursday that since their delegation arrived in Geneva last week for talks aimed at halting hostilities and facilitating aid delivery under international and regional sponsorship, General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) has intensified its air raids on populated areas.
These indiscriminate bombings have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and caused extensive damage to infrastructure and both public and private facilities, RSF said.
RSF said the air force, following directives from army leaders and the terrorist Islamic Movement, conducted over 27 systematic airstrikes throughout the week. These bombings caused widespread destruction to infrastructure and public and private facilities, including residential areas, hospitals, markets, water stations, schools, bridges, places of worship, and livestock enclosures.
RSF said since the start of the negotiations in Geneva, al-Burhan’s forces have committed multiple atrocities against civilians, here is a look.
On August 15, SAF bombed Khartoum’s central market, killing more than 80 civilians. The Bika area in Al-Jazira State was also targeted, resulting in 7 deaths. In North Darfur, airstrikes hit Al-Kuma Hospital, killing 6 people and destroying patient wards. Additional bombings occurred at Morni Bridge in Central Darfur and Kabkabiya in North Darfur, where 4 people were killed, while 12 more lost their lives in El Fasher, North Darfur, RSF said.
On August 16, the SAF targeted the Um Banin area and the city of Karkoj in Sennar State, resulting in the deaths of 18 people. It also bombed Jebel Amer in North Darfur, killing 3 people, and the northern neighborhoods of El Fasher, which resulted in 16 deaths and the complete destruction of the Wad Madani land port.
On August 17, the SAF air raids on the city of Al-Kuma in North Darfur, kill 9 people, and on Jebel Amer in North Darfur, kills 6 people. In Kandahar market in Omdurman, more than 27 people were killed, and in Kror market in Omdurman, between 7 and 10 victims fell. Additionally, Harra 40 in Imbada, West Omdurman, was bombed, resulting in the deaths of 2 people.
On August 18, SAF bombing resumed in El Fasher, resulting in 10 deaths, along with eastern neighborhoods of the capital, Khartoum.
On August 19, the SAF bombed a market and water station in Mellit, North Darfur, and the bombing in El Fasher led to the deaths of 9 people.
On Tuesday, August 20, the SAF targeted a hospital, market, police station, and school in the city of El-Daein, East Darfur, killing 13 people, and carried out another raid on Tawisha in North Darfur, which resulted in 7 deaths. In Al-Hasahisa, Al-Jazira State, 18 people were killed due to airstrikes, and in El Fasher, North Darfur, 14 people were killed.
These figures represent the initial statistics, with dozens of wounded, which will likely increase the number of victims, RSF said.
The RSF says that the coup leaders, aligned with the terrorist Islamic Movement, are using brutal attacks to show blatant disregard for international and regional efforts aimed at easing the suffering of the Sudanese people.
According to the RSF, these actions are a desperate attempt to manufacture victories they failed to secure on the battlefield against RSF forces, resorting to a “scorched earth” strategy that targets innocent civilians along divisive regional and sectarian lines.
The RSF underlined that they denounce these inhumane acts against innocent civilians and once again call on the international community, human rights organizations, and all stakeholders in humanitarian matters to condemn this barbaric behavior.
The SAF’s use of air raids as a method of warfare dates back to the 1990s during the southern conflict and continued in Darfur, the Blue Nile, and South Kordofan, where hundreds of thousands of innocents were killed by the air force, displacing millions from Darfur and other parts of the country, RSF said.
The continued atrocities against unarmed civilians and the violation of their rights have compelled our forces to confront the terrorist Islamic Movement, which controls the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) by influencing decisions through generals loyal to the organization. Their goal is to seize power once again through military and security institutions, RSF statement said.
Over the past 16 months, more than 18,800 people have been killed and at least 33,000 injured in Sudan, according to figures from the UN, which recently warned that the country is at a “cataclysmic breaking point.
