At least 21 individuals were killed and over 70 injured in a shelling attack at a busy market in southeastern Sudan, according to local medical officials. The Sudan Doctors Network attributed the assault to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), labeling it a “massacre” of innocent civilians.
The incident occurred just a day after Sudan’s military dismissed a proposal from international experts to deploy forces aimed at safeguarding civilians. Since the onset of civil war between the armed forces and RSF in April, thousands have lost their lives, and more than 10 million people have been displaced, creating one of the most severe humanitarian crises globally.
Multiple rounds of peace negotiations, facilitated by international mediators, have failed to establish a lasting resolution to the conflict. The RSF maintains control over significant areas of the capital, Khartoum, and territories in Kordofan and Darfur, where it faces allegations of employing sexual violence as a weapon against non-Arab populations in an ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign.
Despite these territorial gains, the RSF has thus far been unsuccessful in overtaking the city of Sennar from government forces. In June, the paramilitary group captured substantial portions of the Sennar state, regarded as strategically critical due to its proximity to Ethiopia and South Sudan, along with its fertile agricultural land.
Both the army and the RSF are accused of committing severe violations against civilians. Recent findings from a UN investigation suggested actions that could equate to war crimes and crimes against humanity by both factions.
The foreign ministry, supporting army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, vehemently rejected the UN’s conclusions, labeling the organization’s Human Rights Council as a “political and illegal body.” The RSF has remained silent regarding these developments.
Originally emerging from the Janjaweed militia, notorious for its role in the Darfur genocide in 2003, the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, has been working to enhance its international standing and political legitimacy, recently sending representatives to peace discussions in Switzerland—efforts that have been rejected by the army.
