Looting, roadblocks: Militia a scary neighbor in Sudan
Truce extended; residents warily seek food, safety
In the 12 days since war broke out in Sudan, the residents in the capital of Khartoum have learned to survive, living side by side with armed fighters.
Civilians negotiate with a feared paramilitary faction at roadblocks for safe passage, grudgingly share food and water with them, and sometimes receive warnings about an upcoming battle — giving residents time to either bolt or run back inside and lock their doors.
The fighters have moved into homes and taken over stores and hospitals, alternatively terrifying and wooing civilians. In one neighborhood, a resident said, they handed out milk. In another, they invited community members to share in the spoils of their looting. In another, they turned vigilantes, punishing petty criminals.
Many residents try to avoid the faction as much as possible.
“Apparently they don’t have anyone that gives them orders so they’re just doing their thing,” said Dania Atabani, who lives in Khartoum. “Very dangerous and chaotic.”
The paramilitary group, the
Rapid Support Forces, was part of a military-led government as recently as this month, but is now combating the regular army for power in Sudan, a northeast African country.
It has been hard to tell which side is winning in the battle between Sudan’s rival generals and the forces they lead, with the army on Thursday calling the situation in the capital “a bit complicated.”
But as a tenuous cease-fire has largely held in Khartoum and the rest of the nation and the most intense fighting has subsided, a picture has emerged. The US-brokered truce, set to end Thursday night, was extended for another 72 hours. And the White House urged American citizens to leave within the next 48 hours.
Speaking by phone and text message, residents from across the capital said RSF troops appeared to control much of the city center and surrounding districts, along with parts of Khartoum’s twin city, Omdurman, penetrating deep into residential areas. The regular military is positioned farther out, where it controls entry and exit, and can still use its warplanes to carry out strikes on RSF targets.
“The RSF remains hyper-focused on winning Khartoum,” said Alan Boswell, the Horn of Africa project director at the International Crisis Group. “This is the ultimate showdown.”
In the first few days of the conflict, the RSF engaged in fierce fighting in Khartoum neighborhoods including Amarat and Khartoum 2, close to the city’s international airport, occupying streets where there are many embassies and wealthy residents. They also set up checkpoints in upscale neighborhoods such as al-Riyadh, where they placed antiaircraft guns in front of homes to target the circling army planes.
The RSF fighters are usually in groups of five to 20 at checkpoints, residents said. They usually carry bazookas, Kalashnikov rifles, and machine guns, and arrive in Toyota pickup trucks.
“Since the first day, they are spreading through the neighborhoods and they are taking the people as shields,” said Gasim Amin Oshi, an engineer turned community organizer.
The RSF quickly moved into Oshi’s Baitalmaal neighborhood in Omdurman, set up checkpoints on the bridge, then headed straight for the police headquarters, taking it after a short gunbattle. Next, they went for the national radio and television station, then the hospital, a technical school, and several buildings. They ransacked the supermarket and looted bakeries. As people evacuated, the fighters began to occupy homes in the neighborhood.
“I can’t move freely, I can’t get my stuff freely. We have a small window to move around in,” Oshi said.