RSF detain three Umma party leaders in West Kordofan

Three leading members of the National Umma Party in West Kordofan are being held by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since Friday. Residents of El Fula, capital of the state, complain about the spread of diseases and shortages of basic consumer goods due to heavy rainfall.

The National Umma Party (NUP) yesterday reported in a press statement on its Facebook page that three of its leading members in West Kordofan were held by an RSF unit near El Fula on Friday.

They “detained Mohamed Ajabna, Emadeldin Ajabna, and Suleiman El Amin three days ago while they were on their way to El Fula, without providing a reason”.

The party holds the RSF responsible for the safety of their members and called for their immediate release. It strongly condemned “the targeting of civilians and the restriction of their movements throughout Sudan”.

Both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF Military Intelligence) and the RSF have been detaining politicians, lawyers, civil society and grassroots activists, but also businessmen since war erupted between them nearly 17 months ago, accusing them of “collaborating with the enemy”. In June, a NUP member was detained by Military intelligence in White Nile state and in Blue Nile state another member was sentenced to death. In the beginning of this year, when the SAF advanced in old Omdurman, where the headquarters of the NUP are located, Umma party members were held by both RSF and Military Intelligence.

‘Random attacks’

The NUP further denounced the artillery shelling by the SAF and the RSF in several Sudanese places during the past few days. “The shelling killed civilians and destroyed public and private properties.”

The party called on the commanders of both warring parties to stop their random attacks “targeting civilian areas and infrastructure”, and “use reason and stop the fire in country caused by their cursed war”.

Radio Dabanga has so far been unable to obtain a comment from the RSF on the party’s statement.

The RSF took control of El Fula on June 20 after a short battle in which a number of soldiers and civilians were killed.

Dire living conditions

People living in the West Kordofan capital complain about the spread of diseases such as malaria, conjunctivitis and cholera due to the torrents and floods this rainy season.

One of them told Radio Dabanga that the diseases spreading in the state “require rapid intervention” and called on  from organizations working in the health field.

He asked “Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Sudan to prioritise West Kordofan” as “the state’s residents have suffered and are still suffering a lot from the fires of war and diseases”.

Another source reported that commercial traffic is facing “serious difficulties in delivering goods” after rains and ensuing floods closed the roads linking El Fula with South Sudan in the south and En Nehoud (An Nuhud) in the north.