Zaghawa tribe accuses RSF of assassinating notables in South Darfur
September 16, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The Shura Council of the Zaghawa tribe has levelled accusations against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), alleging the assassination of three prominent Zaghawa tribe members in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state.
Over the past month, intense clashes have erupted between the army and the paramilitary forces, engulfing Nyala and impacting most of its neighbourhoods. According to the United Nations, this violence has forced approximately 50,000 residents to seek refuge in neighbouring states.
A temporary ceasefire, brokered by the armed groups signatory to the Juba Peace Agreement, briefly halted the hostilities between the two factions. However, this truce proved fragile, leading to a resurgence of conflict in a more brutal form, resulting in a significant number of civilian casualties.
“On August 22, an RSF force deliberately targeted and assassinated former parliamentarian Ahmed Abkar Barqo Abdel-Rahman, businessman Mohamed Abdel Karim Youssif Bishara, and Mohamed Abkar Bakht. The assailants conducted a deliberate raid on their residences in the Al-Nahda neighbourhood, Square 2,” a member of the Shura Council of the Zaghawa tribe in South Darfur revealed to Sudan Tribune.
He emphasized that the actions against the tribe’s prominent figures were premeditated and carried out with the objective of ethnic-based elimination. He also indicated a growing inclination within the tribe to confront the RSF and seek retribution if the perpetrators are not apprehended and held accountable for their “heinous crimes”.
Also, the Zaghawa Shura Council issued a statement asserting that the three victims were residents of South Darfur State and influential leaders within the tribe. They were “deliberately targeted, assaulted, and assassinated within their homes by armed groups equipped with full military gear associated with the Rapid Support Forces, whose vehicles were stationed in the Nahda neighbourhood, Square 2.”
“Despite the Zaghawa Shura Council in South Darfur State’s conviction that there is no winner in this cursed war and that the tribe is not a party to it, we remain perplexed by the motives behind this reprehensible act and the message it intends to convey,” added the statement.
The tribe expressed its hope for a meaningful response from the RSF leadership and a disclosure of the motivations that led its forces to commit this crime against the Zaghawa tribe.
It is worth noting that during the counterinsurgency campaign in Darfur, the Zaghawa tribe in Darfur faced targeted attacks and forced displacement by Arab militias, many of whom later joined the RSF. Additionally, Zaghawa villages in North Darfur were subjected to aerial bombardments by military aircraft during the years of war.
The Zaghawa is represented by three armed movements that signed the Juba Peace Agreement, led by Minni Arko Minnawi, head of the Sudan Liberation Movement; Al-Tahir Hajar, leader of the Gathering of Sudan Liberation Forces; and Gibril Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement.
(ST)