The United Nations Security Council says paramilitary forces fighting to take power in Sudan carried out widespread ethnic killings that may amount to war crimes.
The UN report obtained on Thursday by The Associated Press, accused paramilitary fighters of committing the crimes in the battle to take control of western Darfur.
It also details how the RSF succeeded in gaining control of four out of Darfur's five states, including through complex financial networks that involve dozens of companies.
Sudan plunged into chaos in April, when long-simmering tensions between its military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum.
Widespread conflict
Fighting spread to other parts of the country, but in Sudan's Darfur region, it took on a different form with attacks carried out on civilians, according to the UN.
The International Criminal Court's prosecutor, Karim Khan, however, said in late January that there are grounds to believe both sides are committing possible war crimes in Darfur.
The panel of experts said Darfur is experiencing “its worst violence since 2005.”
The ongoing conflict has caused a large-scale humanitarian crisis and displaced approximately 6.8 million people—5.4 million within Sudan and 1.4 million who have fled to other countries, including approximately 555,000 in neighbouring Chad.
Both sides blamed
The RSF and rival Sudanese government forces have both used heavy artillery and shelling in highly populated areas, causing widespread destruction.
“Neighbourhoods and homes were continuously attacked, looted, burned and destroyed,” the report said.
The report emphasised that disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians — including torture, rapes and killings as well as destruction of critical civilian infrastructure — constitute war crimes under the 1949 Geneva conventions.
➤ Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.
