More than 100 killed in RSF revenge attack on Sudan village

Members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed 108 people in the village of Jalagani in southern Sennar last week. Three RSF soldiers were killed.

Osman Ali, a Jalagani youth leader told Radio Dabanga from Ed Damazin, the capital of neighbouring Blue Nile region*, on Saturday that an RSF unit riding in three vehicles stormed Jalagani village at the western bank of the Blue Nile in southern Sennar on Sunday a week ago and attempted to take young women and girls with them.

“Young men of the village confronted them with knives and sticks, and heavy fighting broke out. Three members of the force were killed, and the rest fled to Wad El Nil village,” he reported.

“After five hours, a large group of RSF soldiers in four-wheel drive vehicles loaded with heavy military equipment attacked Jalagani from the south and west, firing randomly at the villagers. The paramilitaries then entered houses and killed the young men inside. At least 108 people died during the attack.”

Ali said that most of the 14,000 inhabitants of the village fled via the north and crossed the border into Blue Nile region, taking their wounded relatives to Ed Damazin Hospital.

“However, when the RSF learned that the villagers were fleeing, they forced them, about 10 per cent of the population, to stay inside their homes. Those who were able to leave the following day, saw bodies lying on the streets as their relatives were unable to cover them. There are also still several injured people in the village.”

The youth activist appealed to aid organisations to intervene to help the wounded and bury the dead.

He further reported that the RSF occupied the village and forced the remaining inhabitants to deny that the attack took place. “People living in and in the vicinity of Jalagani tell you that the RSF did not attack this area,” he said. “They are forced to either say that or die.”

The Sennar Youth Association confirmed the attack on its Facebook account and also stated that the RSF prevented the remaining villagers to cover the dead.

In the end of June, RSF troops advanced into Sennar state from El Gezira, controlled by the paramilitaries since December 19 last year. They announced the capture of Singa, the capital of Sennar, on June 29.

Residents of Ed Damazin reported in mid-July that the city and neighbouring El Roseires were witnessing a continuous influx of displaced people from Sennar, exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation in the region.

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) announced a surge in cases of sexual violence against women and girls in Sennar in early July. 

At least six people were killed, and dozens were injured on Friday in an RSF raid of Beida village in Ed Dinder in southeast Sennar.

* In August 2022, the governor of Blue Nile state issued a number of decrees, based on the October 2020 Juba Peace Agreement (JPA), by which the state became a ‘region’ and its seven localities became ‘governorates’. According to International IDEA, the JPA protocol concerning Blue Nile and [South and West] Kordofan grants autonomy to these areas but does not stipulate they should become a region.