RSF attacks on South Kordofan’s Habila leave dozens dead and villages destroyed

Dozens of people were killed and injured, and several villages burned to ashes in attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) near Habila town and Jebel El Dayir in South Kordofan, in the past two weeks.

Sources from Kartala, north of Habila town, reported that RSF troops stormed several villages near Habila on February 9. The attacks killed 24 people and wounded dozens of others. Three villages burned to the ground.

In RSF raids on villages around nearby Jebel El Dayir earlier this week, 18 more people were killed, one of the sources added. “A large number of villages were completely destroyed by fire, and their inhabitants sought refuge in the mountainous areas in the neighbourhood.”

RSF paramilitaries are also wreaking havoc north of Kartala. On Tuesday, they violently robbed farm workers near the village of Kafir, north of the town.

A listener living in the area told Radio Dabanga yesterday that “heavily armed RSF soldiers on seven motorcycles and others on foot attacked South Sudanese workers while they were cleaning the soil at an agricultural project in the area”.

The attackers robbed the workers of “all their money and mobile telephones”.

The situation in Habila locality and surroundings is tense, as more violence is expected. Members of an RSF unit on board a number of vehicles posted footage of themselves in Jebel El Dayir on social media two days ago. They stated they were on their way to Um Abdallah and Fayed in the southern part of Abu Kershola.

The sources in Kartala also warned of hunger among the displaced in the town and the hills in the vicinity, as “there are no organisations here anymore to help them”.

Accused

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday accused the RSF of attacking villages in the areas of Habila, Delling, and Lagawa in the Nuba Mountains (divided over South and West Kordofan) this week. It reported that more than 60 people were killed, dozens were injured, and an unknown number of villagers were abducted. Five villages burned to ashes and the crops on thousands of acres were destroyed.

During his visit to El Gedaref in eastern Sudan last Tuesday, SAF Commander and Sovereignty Council President Abdelfattah El Burhan compared the RSF raids on villages in Habila with the extremely violent attacks on the West Darfur capital of El Geneina and surroundings between April and November last year.

The Dabanga team has attempted to contact the RSF spokesperson for comment but was unable to do so.

Rebel fighters

In the first week of January, Habila witnessed heavy fighting between RSF soldiers and rebel combatants of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North led by Abdelaziz El Hilu (SPLM-N El Hilu), based in Kauda in Heiban.

The RSF invaded Habila town on December 31. After some resistance from army forces, they occupied the main market and government buildings in the town, Sudan War Monitor reported in early January.

A source told Dabanga at the time, however, that the rebel forces were able to take control of most parts of Habila.

More than 15,000 people fled the town and sought refuge in areas controlled by the SPLM-N El Hilu. 

On February 13, Dabanga reported that armed men alleged to be affiliated with the SPLM-N El Hilu again launched an attack on Habila town. More than 3,000 people fled towards Kartala.

The SPLM-N El Hilu attacked army bases near Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan, between July and September last year.

‘Unbearable’

The health situation in Kadugli has rapidly deteriorated. A medic reported to Dabanga yesterday that life in the city has become “unbearable”.

In particular the Children’s, Women and Obstetrics Hospital is suffering from a severe shortage of medicines and nutrition for children. The source said that the hospital just opened its doors again after having been shut for 20 days because the staff has not been paid for months.