Mass grave of ‘conscripts killed during Al Bashir era’ found near Sudan capital

Sudan’s Public Prosecution Service has confirmed the discovery of a mass grave in El Eilafon district in Khartoum. The dozens of bodies are presumed to be of students who were forced into military service just after finishing high school, and fled a training military camp in 1998.

Sudan’s prosecutor confirmed to reporters the formation of a committee to investigate the incident. The prosecutor also pointed out that some of the alleged killers who were affiliated with the former regime have fled the country. Reuters reported that dozens of bodies were found in El Eilafon in the eastern part of Khartoum.

In 1998, a number of students were reportedly killed while they were trying to escape the training camp in fear of being sent to war in South Sudan. It is also believed that the students concerned were angry for being denied family visits and decided to leave the training camp.

Since the beginning of 1997, the National Military Conscription Service was made a condition for students to enter Sudanese universities.

Throughout the 1990s up until the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was concluded between Sudan and Sudan People's Liberation Movement in January 2005, the deposed regime relied on fresh high school graduates for its war in South Sudan. Students were either pressed into military service under the National Military Conscription Service or trained as mujahideen (Muslim fighters) by Sudan's National Islamic Front.

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