Horrible, horrible situation in Sudan, where stories are starting to filter out of the carnage inflicted by the RSF on the civilian population of El Fasher, aided by arms shipment from the UAE. It is something that aid groups had been warning about for months.
In the period 2005-09, I regularly visited Darfur as an aid worker, and reading these stories now, bring back many memories of that time, which was in the aftermath of the 03/04 genocide. The burnt out homes we passed on the roads outside Kass, the stories from villagers about what was still happening in their communities. The clusters of little circles, each a destroyed village, visible from the UN helicopter as we travelled between towns. And, of course, the sprawling camps of desparate people around the main towns, the corruption and obstruction by the then authorities, and the many attacks by militia on aid agencies, including my own.
Then, it dominated the headlines in the west. Now, hardly anyone seems to care as the RSF mow down large groups of women, children, and men in El Fasher. I find myself veering between fighting back my tears and my anger about both the callousness there and the carelessness here.
The RSF shot civilians by the dozen, street by street, and chased others fleeing, survivors of the first two days of the al-Fashir takeover told us.
Their testimonies help explain what al-Fashir - cut off from the world - might look like now.
Our story:
reuters.com/world/africa/fif…