No escape, no aid as fighting intensifies in Sudan’s West Darfur

As Sudan’s civil war enters its second month, ethnic killings are terrorising civilians in the troubled West Darfur region.

Residents told Al Jazeera that no place is safe and that Sudanese Arab fighters stormed a hospital to execute 12 wounded non-Arab civilians on May 14. Government buildings, food markets, schools and internally displaced camps have also been attacked, looted and burned.

‘They are killing all residents … and committing crimes against humanity,’ said Jamal Khamis, a human rights monitor in el-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.

‘The militants especially know who the political and human rights activists are,’ he added, suggesting that he could be targeted.

Since a conflict erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15, the two sides have redeployed thousands of fighters from across the country to try to consolidate control over Khartoum, Sudan’s capital.

That has left a power vacuum in West Darfur where Arab militias have reportedly killed hundreds of people in el-Geneina.

Source: Somali National News Agency