Sudan’s RSF attacks east Gezira villages following defection

CAIRO/DUBAI, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have attacked villages in the east of Sudan’s El Gezira state, killing at least 25 people, following the defection of high-ranking RSF officer Abuagla Keikal who is from the area, activists said.

As soldiers from other RSF divisions ransacked the farming state beginning in December, Keikal’s local forces had held incursions into east Gezira at bay, sparing civilians the worst of the violence while imposing control on the area.

But following his defection on Sunday, large numbers of RSF soldiers streamed into the region, in what activists described as revenge, reporting displacement, looting and killings.

“Now they have their chance to do what they want,” said one activist who asked to remain anonymous to protect family in the area.

The Rufaa Resistance Committee, a pro-democracy group, said on Tuesday that at least 25 people had been killed in Rufaa, the area’s largest town, and seven other villages and towns since Sunday. Most Rufaa residents had been displaced and homes looted, while there were several reports of rape, it said.

An eyewitness from the town of Hilalia said he had seen RSF soldiers looting market and medical clinics, though a network blackout meant few details were available.

The RSF said on Tuesday it had driven the army out of the town of Tamboul, where the two sides had clashed as the army continues a campaign to regain territory from the RSF.

The RSF shared a video on Tuesday purportedly showing that the army’s commander in Tamboul had been killed along with 370 other soldiers. The Rufaa committee said the army had withdrawn from the town, while the army did not immediately release a statement on the clashes.

The resistance committee in the state capital Wad Madani said on Monday 31 people had been killed in an army airstrike during evening prayers the night before.

The war that broke out between the army and the RSF more than 18 months ago has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with more than 11 million people displaced and half the population facing acute hunger. (Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo and Khalid Abdelaziz in Dubai; editing by Barbara Lewis)

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