Sudan Nashra: Sariha villagers caught in RSF’s retaliatory campaigns against Keikel’s Gezira

Since October 20, relentless attacks by the Rapid Support Forces against civilians in eastern and northern Gezira have left hundreds killed or wounded and forced thousands to flee. The deadliest massacre took place this past week in the village of Sariha in northern Gezira, about 80 kilometers from Khartoum, with at least 120 civilians killed. 

The retaliations stem from the October 20 defection of RSF commander in Gezira Abu Agla Keikel to the Sudanese military, which has been making significant gains in recent months, shifting the power balance on the battlefield in the capital, Khartoum, as well as Sennar State. Since then, factions loyal to RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo have launched an ethnically driven campaign against Keikel’s homeland in eastern Gezira, involving killings and forced displacement, all in the absence of military intervention.

The violence soon extended to northern Gezira villages, which have no ethnic link to Keikel. There, RSF fighters, led by commander Omar Sharon, pursued an even more brutal campaign against villagers. On October 26, Sharon’s forces attacked Sariha in the Kamlin locality. 

Omayma Fadl, an elementary school teacher who fled Sariha, told Mada Masr that before October 26, the RSF sent envoys demanding the village’s complete surrender. “From what my husband told me, they threatened to storm the village if there was no compliance,” Fadl said, adding that, driven by ethnic tensions with the RSF, certain figures in the village refused. 

“The RSF commanders controlling the Kamlin area are from the Rizeigat tribe with whom we have an enmity due to recurrent assaults and the stance on Keikel,” Fadl explained, saying that this faction, loyal to RSF commanders Gogga and Galha, had previously rejected the appointment of Keikel as a leader.

“Just as dawn prayers began at around 5 am on Saturday, we were woken by the sound of heavy gunfire,” Fadl said. “Village youth took up arms and ammunition and managed to repel the initial RSF assault. By 10 am, the RSF returned with a larger force, and once again, they were fought off. At around 1 pm, the RSF launched an even larger attack, this time armed with heavy artillery and anti-aircraft guns. Bullets pierced through homes, and mortar shells destroyed rooftops. We took shelter in the mosque, thinking it would be safer.”

By 2 pm, the RSF stormed the village, Fadl said, killing the men and forcing some women and their children into homes in the village center. “Some girls resisted and were killed, while others were injured while fleeing amid the clashes,” Fadl recounted.

The residents sheltering in the mosque came out as the RSF started looting. “We ran toward the village of Azrag, to find the residents there also fleeing. We made our way toward New Halfa, covering rough terrain and walking long distances. Along the way, around seven pregnant women miscarried, and only one infant survived,” Fadl said. 

Nugud al-Tayeb, a homemaker and a mother of three who also escaped Sariha, told Mada Masr that her family likewise woke up at dawn to intense gunfire. “When we asked why the village was stormed, we were told that the RSF failed to reach an agreement with village notables on full surrender,” she said. They were told that the RSF did not wait for the surrender deadline and cut talks short, Tayeb added. 

“People were divided over surrender — some men thought the military would save us and only wanted to resist the first assault,” Tayeb continued.

“I didn’t wait to see how the battle would end. We gathered our essential belongings and documents and set out on the road linking Sariha to the Nile, then hurried toward the road to Kassala,” Tayeb said. “I left my sister behind with her husband. When I arrived at Kassala, I learned that he was killed. My sister is on the road with her children.” 

Tayed said that they walked long distances, while some people rode donkeys. “We lost a child from our family and buried him along the way. This ordeal that happened to us is like ethnic cleansing,” she said.

“We expected the military to intervene, especially as its aircrafts were hovering over the village, but they did nothing,” Al-Sadig Ali, another displaced Sariha resident, now in the Arab 6 village in New Halfa, told Mada Masr.

“RSF militias attacked Sariha from multiple directions, shelling homes and civilians with artillery. Once they took control of the area and its surroundings, they subjected residents to abuse — men, women and children alike,” Ali said.

Ali added that the attacking RSF militants arrested all the village’s men, including the elderly, gathering them in the mosque and at other locations across the village. Sharon was seen grabbing an elderly man by his beard outside a home, according to Ali. 

“[The RSF] committed all their atrocities with complete assurance,” he added. “And by the afternoon, they withdrew, leaving behind a bloodbath. No man or youth was spared. The death toll was over 150, with nearly 250 injured.” 

Ali went on to add that the massacre in Sariha could be a harbinger of more attacks on civilians in the area. “We fully expect the RSF to attack some villages in Kamlin and eastern Gezira, threatening Keikel’s family,” Ali said. “What happened in Sariha could happen to any village that dares to resist.”

Concluding his statement, Ali noted the world’s apathy toward the war crimes in Sudan. “No one could imagine the suffering endured by Sudan and the Sudanese people since the outbreak of the criminal war between the Janjaweed and the military generals,” Ali said. “The reality, or rather the hell we live in, defies description and surpasses imagination. The whole world sees it and remains silent — indifferent.”

Local, international community condemn RSF violations in Gezira 

The severe violence in Gezira has drawn both local and international condemnation. European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell expressed deep concern over the “dreadful images” coming from Gezira, stating on Sunday that the RSF has “reportedly perpetrated more mass killings and rapes.” 

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan Clementine Nkweta-Salami likewise voiced her alarm. “I am shocked and deeply appalled that human rights violations of the kind witnessed in Darfur last year — such as rape, targeted attacks, sexual violence and mass killings — are repeated in Gezira State,” she stated on Saturday, condemning the RSF’s actions as “atrocious crimes.”

Within Sudan, the Civil Front for Democracy stressed that the escalating crisis is in need of a firmer international stance against all internal and external parties fueling the conflict. In a statement on Sunday, the front appealed to the African Union’s Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council to implement civilian protection measures across Sudan and urged the leaders of both the military and the RSF to stop spewing hate speech and fueling tribal strife.

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa reported on Tuesday that, according to accounts they received from Sariha, “women were subjected to torture and gang rape, prompting several to commit suicide.” The report said that, upon learning of possible attacks, many young women indicated that “they would rather commit suicide than yield to RSF violations.” The statement called on the UN Security Council, in collaboration with the African Union, to fulfill its responsibility to protect civilians. “They should work together to quickly establish a gender-sensitive civilian protection mechanism on the ground,” the statement said.

In his address before the UN Security Council on October 28, Secretary General Antonio Guterres stated that “diverse Sudanese voices, human rights organizations and others have called for stepped-up measures — including some form of impartial force — to protect civilians,” but added that “at present, conditions do not exist for the successful deployment of a UN force to protect civilians in Sudan.” 

He stressed that the UN Secretariat remains prepared to engage with the UN Security Council and other entities on operational measures to curb violence and protect civilians, suggesting that “new approaches that are adapted to the challenging circumstances of the conflict” may be required. 

However, the RSF claims it is only targeting armed combatants despite videos, posted by its own fighters, showing killings and abuses. 

Al-Mabarr Mahmoud, secretary general of the Gezira Conference, a civil organization, told Mada Masr that the assault on Sariha left 124 people killed, over 200 injured and 150 detained, with detainees transported to Kab al-Jadad. 

Mahmoud said that Kab al-Jadad serves as both a detention center for the RSF and the residence of its regional commander, Sharon, who personally led the atrocities. 

RSF composition in Gezira

Since the first day of the RSF’s takeover of Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira, on December 18, 2023, internal divisions among its leaders became evident. While Keikel was initially appointed as the RSF commander in Gezira, field sources tracking developments on the ground told Mada Masr that his control was largely confined to eastern parts of the state. Other commanders retained authority over the remaining areas and military sectors.

Among these commanders is Sharon, who oversees Gezira’s northern sector from his base in Kab al-Jadad, an RSF source told Mada Masr. The source said that Sharon personally led the recent assault on Sariha.

Sharon had been detained in the Huda Prison in Omdurman on criminal charges and was released when the RSF raided prisons after the outbreak of war and let prisoners out, the source said. 

A local source told Mada Masr that Sharon has been implicated in serious abuses, including extorting traders in Kab al-Jadad and detaining local residents for ransom. His forces also prevented farmers from harvesting their crops last season unless they paid fees of up to 1 million Sudanese pounds.

Sharon’s forces are spread within the Massid administrative unit in the Kamlin locality in northern Gezira, while RSF commander Ahmed Yagoub leads forces in Kamlin city and surrounding areas to the north, the RSF source said. They added that all of these areas fall under the command of influential RSF Gezira commander Ahmed “Gogga” Adam.

In northwestern Gezira, particularly in the Abu Quta area, RSF troops are led by Habeeb Issa, supported by Hassan Hamad al-Nil, also known as Hassan Akhdeir. Sufyan Abu Salaa is responsible for forces in the cities of Hasahisa and Fadasi, with commander Mohamedein Babeen leading the eastern front and forces on the frontlines in Faw, according to the RSF source.

Following Keikel’s defection to the military, RSF Major General Abdallah Hussein was appointed to lead RSF operations in Gezira. Known for his combat experience, including in what is known as the First Bullet battle at Khartoum’s Sports City in mid-April 2023 and the Armored Corps battles south of Khartoum in August of the same year, Hussein has been managing both administrative and military operations in Wad Madani since arriving with his forces on April 28.

A military source told Mada Masr that Sudanese military intelligence detected a substantial number of foreign mercenaries within RSF ranks in Gezira, mostly Chadian fighters from the Kuraan ethnic group, as well as Libyans, Ethiopians and South Sudanese artillery specialists. These foreign forces are stationed in the Hantoub area east of Wad Madani, the source said.

The RSF launched its assault on Gezira on December 15, 2023, advancing from Abu Quta in the northeast. There, they set up military posts, using the location as a transit point to extend their reach across southern Gezira and to the state capital, Wad Madani, which they attacked on December 18.

Gezira has a population of around 7 million, along with nearly 500,000 displaced people. After the outbreak of the war on April 15, 2023 and prior to the RSF invasion, it was one of Sudan’s most crucial states. It served as a refuge for those fleeing the war, and a key hub for food and medical resources for western Sudan and the White Nile State. The state also housed nearly 900 health facilities spread across its seven localities, with the majority located in Greater Wad Madani, as well as about 19 dialysis centers distributed across the state.