مذابح قوات الدعم السريع في الديوم الشرقية – الخرطوم
مذابح قوات الدعم السريع في الديوم الشرقية – الخرطوم
Since the beginning of March 2025, the Eastern Diyoum area in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, has been plunged into a dire humanitarian crisis due to systematic violations and massacres perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against civilians. These tragic events have included mass killings, sexual assaults, widespread looting, and forced displacement, thrusting thousands of residents into a daily spiral of terror, fear, and unrelenting suffering.
Fikra for Studies and Development issues this statement to shed light on these crimes and violations, urging swift action from the international community and relevant stakeholders to protect civilians and halt the escalating violence. We emphasize that the rapidly shifting political dynamics in Sudan must not overshadow the stark reality of human suffering and the ongoing abuses endured by its people.
Since March 1, 2025, the RSF has launched a large-scale campaign of violence targeting civilians in Eastern Diyoum, an area still under its control in the Sudanese capital; Khartoum. This has resulted in the deaths of at least 20 civilians, including four young men brutally slaughtered on March 14 while overseeing communal kitchens and distributing food aid in Deim al-Qina neighborhood. These kitchens were subsequently vandalized and looted, with all food supplies stolen. On March 8, another RSF attack killed seven people, including a child, in the eastern Ta’aiysha neighborhood.
During the first week of March (March 1–7), over 40 individuals sustained gunshot wounds, including 15 injuries recorded on March 3 during random attacks targeting the Popular Square and Jouda neighborhoods. Sexual violence has surged alarmingly between March 2 and March 10, with at least 10 rape cases documented—including that of a 15-year-old girl—committed by RSF fighter in neighborhoods such as eastern Sibaq, central Deim, and New Sajjana. The true number is likely far higher, given the challenges of documentation and widespread fear of reporting.
Since the start of March, hundreds of homes have been looted and set ablaze, with dozens completely destroyed by the RSF on March 6. On March 8, hundreds of residents were forced to flee on foot toward al-Qouz and al-Rumeila, areas under Sudanese army control. Army units evacuated some civilians from besieged zones, yet approximately 1,000 remain trapped in Eastern Diyoum as of March 16.
Notably, the RSF attacking forces include a significant number of non-Sudanese mercenaries. Since March 2, the RSF has imposed a stringent siege, blocking food and medicine from entering the area, leading to uncounted deaths—particularly among children—due to starvation and lack of medical care by March 10.
Fikra for Studies and Development warns of the ongoing nature of these crimes, particularly given the RSF’s well-documented history of retaliatory massacres, such as those committed during its recent withdrawal from East Nile, where it destroyed homes and killed civilians inside their residences.
While the RSF escalates its media rhetoric about forming a parallel government and proposes political initiatives to gain legitimacy and muddy the waters, it continues to systematically violate civilians under its control. This stark contradiction between its political messaging and field actions exposes its true nature. The political and media noise must not obscure the daily suffering of civilians living under RSF dominance.
We issue an urgent appeal to the international community—starting with the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Representative, the governments of countries engaged with Sudan (notably the United Kingdom, Norway, and the United States), and international human rights and humanitarian organizations—to act immediately to stop these violations, ensure humanitarian aid reaches those in need, and hold accountable those responsible for these crimes, including the RSF’s regional backers.