Al Jazirah governor says 60,000 criminal cases filed against RSF

January 21, 2026 (WAD MADANI) – Al Jazirah State Governor Al-Tahir Ibrahim said on Wednesday that authorities have registered more than 60,000 criminal complaints against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accusing the paramilitary group of killing more than 6,000 civilians.

The RSF controlled Al Jazirah from December 2023 until early 2025, a period marked by reports of killings and sexual violence during retaliatory attacks on hundreds of villages and residential areas.

“The RSF militia directly killed more than 6,333 citizens, while more than 10,000 others died due to the war,” Ibrahim told a visiting Turkish media delegation. He added that the 60,000 reports filed in the central Sudanese state cover theft, looting, and murder.

The Sudanese army retook control of Al Jazirah early last year following the defection of Abu Agla Keikal, the commander of the Sudan Shield Forces, who had led RSF operations in the state. Keikal was granted amnesty and allowed to retain his rank of Major General.

Supported by the army and local communities, Keikal’s forces were instrumental in the recapture of Al Jazirah and Khartoum, later participating in combat in Kordofan.

Ibrahim said the RSF recruited minors, noting that 97 children were captured fighting in its ranks during the state’s liberation. He also accused the group of forced marriage and child marriage, as well as the starvation of residents in the town of Al-Hilaliya, which he said caused more than 1,200 deaths.

In December 2024, the RSF attacked Al-Hilaliya and blocked food and medicine as part of a campaign against civilians in eastern Al Jazirah, seen as retaliation for Keikal’s defection.

The governor added that the RSF intentionally destroyed infrastructure, including the Al Jazirah Agricultural Scheme and the Agricultural Research Corporation. He said the group destroyed a gene bank containing 27,000 crop varieties.

State authorities have since worked to restore basic services, reopening 106 hospitals and 860 health centres, according to Ibrahim. He said 6,117 service projects have been implemented to meet the needs of the population.