BACKGROUND

The UN human rights chief on Friday said Sudanese civilians are living in ‘sheer terror’ and both sides had consistently acted with impunity for multiple rights violations.

the homes from pillage, a signature RSF tactic.

The paramilitary force is the descendant of the Janjaweed militia, which began a scorched earth campaign in Sudan’s western Darfur area more than two decades ago under strongman Omar Bashir. Washington has accused both sides of war crimes, and said the RSF also carried out ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Al-Jazira, in central Sudan, had become a refuge for those fleeing the fighting in and around the capital Khartoum.

But in December, the RSF swept into the former breadbasket and proceeded to kill and plunder, witnesses said at the time.

The war has killed thousands, uprooted 8 million people and led the country to the edge of famine, aid agencies have warned. According to UN figures, nearly half a million people had sought refuge in Al-Jazira, including in Wad Madani, but the fighting eventually caught up with them there too, sending thousands fleeing again.

Then on Feb. 7, the internet and telephones were cut off.

Many residents hope to leave Al-Jazira for somewhere safe, but getting away is not easy, said another Al-Jazira resident, Al-Samani, who only gave his first name out of fear of reprisal. He lives in the village of Tabet, 80 km northwest of Wad Madani, and spoke to journalists during a brief window of phone signal. Buses have either been stolen or run out of fuel in a country where service stations have not been resupplied because of closed roads or challenges moving between areas under rival control