Humanitarian Situation in AiLafoun 7 October2023 – PDF
Sudan Human Rights Network (SHRN) condemns violations against civilians in the Al’ilafoun area of East Nile, Khartoum, where the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked and occupied the area. The attack began on Thursday, 5 October 2023, and citizens were forcibly displaced, among them some of Khartoum’s inhabitants having been displaced since the beginning of the war.
RSF forces terrorized citizens by firing shots into the air, blocking roads, restricting the movement of fleeing civilians, and establishing checkpoints where theft and looting happen. They also carried out indiscriminate shelling within civilian areas.
SHRN denounces and condemns the arrest of citizens, including youth and children, and the looting of homes in the area. There has been a complete telecommunications and power outage.
The RSF took over the strategic petroleum depot between Al’ilafoun and Um Duwanban. They also targeted an army camp affiliated with the Engineers Corps, where civilian recruits were allegedly being trained according to the RSF claim. The army launched artillery and aerial attacks on the RSF in response, resulting in approximately 200 casualties and injuries. The army subsequently withdrew from the area, leaving civilians to face their fate unprotected.
The attacks of the RSF and the atrocities committed in this war by both sides constitute a blatant violation of international humanitarian laws that require the protection of civilians during wartime.
SHRN warns the RSF that the city of Al’ilafoun and other cities that have become safe havens for displaced civilians are under international protection. Any attack on them or any other non-conflict city, not involved in warfare, falls under international protection according to Articles 4 and 6 of the Fourth Geneva Convention regarding the protection of civilians in times of war in 1949. SHRN calls on all parties involved in the conflict to sit at the negotiating table and immediately halt the war.