Sudan grassroots activists in Khartoum North desperate over RSF presence

The continuing lack of water in large parts of Khartoum North (Khartoum Bahri) caused the cessation of most of the services and commercial activities in the city. The resistance committee active in El Safya neighbourhood in the centre of the city blame the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the area.

On the occasion of Eid El Adha (Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice), the El Safya Resistance Committee issued a press statement on Thursday in which it laments the continued battles between the RSF and the Sudan Amed Forces (SAF) in the current Muslim month of Dhul-Hijjah which is “one of the months in which Allah Almighty has forbidden fighting”.

Since the start of the war on April 15, the water provision in the area stopped as clashes near the Khartoum North water station damaged the building.

The RSF is in control of the area and according to the resistance committee, the paramilitaries are preventing engineers from repairing the water station.

“The deliberate non-maintenance of the Khartoum Bahri water station has caused the collapse of health services and the cessation of bakeries in the city,” the statement reads.

The resistance committee further reports that RSF elements continue to raid, occupy, and plunder houses in El Safya abandoned by their residents. Most of the vehicles left by the owners have been stolen.

The statement also reported rapes, beatings, and other crimes committed by the RSF in the area.

On June 3, RSF soldiers stormed and plundered the Haj El Safi Teaching Hospital in the neighbourhood. “They broke into the safe and seized large sums of money.”

Three days later, six worshipers were killed when a shell hit the El Taqwa Mosque in the neighbourhood during “random artillery shelling” between the RSF and the SAF.

The grassroots activists further state that they “are observing the movements of the former regime that fuel strife, racism and the flames of war through the support with their arms of our armed forces. “We also monitor attempts [on social media] to spread lies and rumours, and calls to assassinate prominent civilian figures and members of resistance committees.”

They also condemn “the worsening situation in El Geneina, West Darfur, and the violence that can be classified as the crimes against humanity and war crimes”.

The El Safya resistance committee call on the military commanders “to withdraw all military manifestations from hospitals as well as homes, streets, and service centres, and to allow food and medical aid to pass so that the responsible authorities can distribute it to those besieged and affected.

“We call on everyone to stop this war. We all, as revolutionary forces, whose slogan is freedom and peace, must act in order not to expand the scope of the war.

“We should agree on a clear formula for the production of one professional national army – which will be the first step towards completing the democratic transition and achieving a civilian-led state.

“All those involved in igniting the war and committing war crimes must be held accountable,” the statement concludes.