Khamis Abdullah Abakar, governor of West Darfur, was killed Wednesday after stating in a telephone interview with AL-Hadath TV that the RSF and aligned Arab militias have killed civilians in his state's capital of El Geneina.
News portal Sudan Tribune reported that during the interview Abakar called for international intervention to protect the region's remaining population from "ongoing genocide."
Not long after, graphic video of Abakar's bloody body was posted online.
The U.S.-supported Sudan Conflict Observatory has independently assessed Abakar's death to be an "extrajudicial killing highly likely perpetrated by RSF."
The United Nations mission to Sudan also says the RSF is most likely to blame.
"Compelling eyewitness accounts attribute this act to Arab militias and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), even though the RSF communicated a denial of their involvement to the mission," it said in a statement Thursday. "The U.N. Mission in Sudan calls for the perpetrators to be swiftly brought to justice and the cycle of violence in the region to not expand further."
Despite the accusations lobbed its way, the RSF has blamed the Sudanese Armed Forces for Abakar's death, producing a statement Wednesday saying the governor was killed by "outlaws" amid tribal conflict in the state that has been fueled by the SAF's intelligence wing.
"The Sudanese Military Intelligence operating in the state has orchestrated these tribal battles, including the recent incident leading to the assassination of Abakar," it said. "Despite our efforts to protect the governor, the outlaws launched a large-scale raid that escalated into clashes with our forces, resulting in his abduction and tragic assassination."
On the other hand, the SAF said the RSF were the ones who abducted and executed the governor.
"This monstrous behavior adds a new chapter to the barbaric crimes that they have been committing on the Sudanese people who have seen their crimes as never witnessed in the country's history," the SAF said in a statement Wednesday, referring to the RSF.
The governor's death occurred amid surging violence in the state and after Volker Perthes, head of the U.N.'s mission in Sudan, warned of an emerging pattern of "large-scale targeted attacks against civilians based on their ethnic identities, allegedly committed by Arab militias and some armed men in Rapid Support Forces uniform."
Wednesday marked the war entering its third month.
The Northeast African nation has for years teetered on the precipice of war and stability since the military ousted the country's former three-decade dictator government of President Omar al-Bashir in a civilian-backed coup in 2019.
As the country crawled toward a democracy, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the SAF, and his deputy, RSF head Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, executed another coup but infighting over control of the government turned into bloodshed on April 15, with civilians paying a heavy price.
Since the conflict began, nearly 1.9 million people have been displaced and nearly 25 million are in need of assistance, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The United States late Thursday condemned the escalating violence and ongoing human rights violations and abuses in Sudan, while stating they are a reminder of events that led Washington to determine that genocide was being committed in Darfur in 2004.
"We specifically condemn the killing of West Darfur Gov. Khamis Abakar on June 14 after he accused the RSF and other forces of perpetrating genocide," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
"Both sides must cease fighting in the area, control their forces and hold accountable those responsible for violence or abuses, and enable delivery of desperately needed humanitarian assistance."
Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
