Witnesses have reported that Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces engaged in battle with the army outside Wad Madani on Saturday, marking the opening of a new front in the eight-month-old war and prompting thousands to flee. Video on social media shows crowds of people – many of whom had sought refuge in the city from violence in the capital, Khartoum – packing up their belongings and leaving on foot.
In a phone interview, 45-year-old Ahmed Salih expressed his desperation, saying, “The war has followed us to Madani so I am looking for a bus so me and my family can flee. We are living in hell and there is no one to help us.” He plans to head south to Sennar.
The army, which has been in control of Wad Madani since the beginning of the conflict, launched air strikes on RSF forces to the east of the city in an attempt to push back the assault that began on Friday. Witnesses observed RSF reinforcements moving toward the fighting and responding with artillery.
Recent sightings of RSF soldiers in villages to the north and west of Wad Madani have also been reported by residents. According to the United Nations, 14,000 people have fled the area so far, with a few thousand already reaching other cities. Around half a million people have sought refuge in Gezira, primarily from Khartoum.
The fighting has raised concerns for other cities in southern and eastern Sudan where tens of thousands of people have been seeking shelter. The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called on the RSF to refrain from attacks and urged all parties to protect civilians at all costs.
Last week, the army and RSF cast doubt on an East African mediation initiative aimed at ending the war that has resulted in the largest internal displacement in the world and warnings of famine-like conditions. In Khartoum and cities in Darfur, residents have reported incidents of rape, looting, and arbitrary killing and detention by the RSF. The group has also been accused of ethnic killings in West Darfur.
The RSF has denied these accusations and emphasized that anyone in its forces found to be involved in such crimes would be held accountable. Activists have reported fresh clashes after weeks of relative calm around the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.
RSF forces surrounding that city had temporarily halted their advance after other armed groups expressed their intent to intervene. Reports of heavy strikes by the army in Nyala, South Darfur, and in Bahri, one of the cities that make up Khartoum, have also been shared by residents.
Sudan’s foreign ministry labeled the RSF as terrorists for a “declared attack on a number of safe villages and neighborhoods in the east of Gezira state which are devoid of military targets.”
The war between the RSF and the Sudanese army erupted in April due to disagreements over a transition to democracy and integration of the two forces. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz, additional reporting and writing by Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
