Sudan paramilitaries loot, ‘terrorise’ remote town

Say witnesses; fresh fighting reported in Khartoum, Darfur
AFP, Wad Madani
Gunmen from Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were accused of attacking a remote town yesterday before going on a shooting and looting rampage that witnesses said “terrorised” its people.
For nearly three months, the RSF commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has fought the regular army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in a war that has claimed the lives of at least 3,000 people and displaced millions.
The RSF was “looting banks and public buildings” in Bara, 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, a witness in the town said.
“We’re being terrorised: they shoot and loot, and the army and police are nowhere to be seen,” said another resident, Abdelmohsen Ibrahim.
“Even if the army tries to come from El-Obeid, the RSF are in control of the El-Obeid-Bara road.”
El-Obeid, 350 kilometres south of Khartoum, is a strategic logistical and commercial hub, with an airport and huge warehouses for the storage of foodstuffs.
The fighting since April 15 has been centred on the capital Khartoum as well as North Kordofan and the vast western region of Darfur, where the United Nations has warned of possible “crimes against humanity”.
Many civilians have accused the RSF of carrying out acts of violence against them, while also charging that the armed forces have done little to protect them.
Since the war erupted, the RSF has established bases in residential areas while the army has struggled to take advantage of its air superiority.
The RSF has been accused of forcing civilians out of their homes, seizing their vehicles, robbing them and raping women as they flee to neighbouring countries.
Fresh fighting was reported on Thursday in Khartoum and Darfur, including air strikes, heavy shelling and fighting on the ground.
The RSF paramilitary group traces its origins to the Janjaweed -- feared Arab militiamen who committed widespread atrocities against non-Arab ethnic minorities in Darfur starting 2003.
Saudi Arabia and the United States brokered several ceasefire deals at talks in Jeddah that were suspended last month after both sides violated the truces.
Nearly 2.8 million people have been displaced since the start of the fighting in mid-April, including almost 650,000 who have crossed into neighbouring countries, according to the latest UN figures.
According to a report published last week by Heritage For Peace, a cultural heritage NGO in touch with local researchers and archaeologists, at least 28 cultural and archaeological sites around the country have been targeted or suffered collateral damage, reports Reuters.
Some sites including several universities are being used for military purposes, according to Mahassin Yousif, an archaeologist at Bahri University.