The Rapid Support Forces are accused of committing terrible violations against civilians in the areas they control (French)

The sounds of bullets and the clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces did not conceal Maryam’s cries as she searched for her children who were separated by their escape route in search of safety following an attack by the support forces on the “Medina Arab” area west of the city of Wad Madani.

Maryam, who sat on the side of the road after screaming and wailing overshadowed the fears of those fleeing from the Rapid Support violations, and which she crossed on foot asking those coming from the area about her children, says that they were with her family, but they did not arrive with them, and the interruption of communications and Internet services in the state of Al-Jazira prevented communication. Families with their members and knowing their locations.

Maryam was not an exceptional case in light of the expansion, deployment, and invasion of the villages of Al-Jazira State following the fall of Wad Madani on September 18, and the interruption of communications and Internet services since last February, as families were cut off from news of each other, and many remained unable to reach their families. And check their conditions.

Violations

Families traveled a two-day distance on foot, others were forced to write paper letters to their families and send them via buses or animals, and transportation stops in some villages and major cities on the island became a place where those wishing to know news of their villages, regions, or families flock.

Since the first of last February, the Rapid Support Forces have invaded a number of villages in the state of Al-Jazira, and worked to displace some citizens from their villages, which became empty of residents after they were forced to leave.

Al Jazeera Net monitored a number of these forces raiding citizens’ homes in villages west of Wad Madani, threatening them with death and stealing their property, including cars, phones, money and food supplies, and beat men and women with whips.

These forces also killed a number of citizens during their raids, and kidnapped a number of young men whose fate is not yet known.

Eyewitnesses told Al Jazeera Net that the Rapid Support Forces threatened to rape the women to force them to give up their savings and property.

Residents of the villages of Al-Jazira State - following the interruption of communications and Internet services - are suffering from a cash flow crisis and the difficulty of providing food supplies. Some of them headed to the city of Al-Manaqil, which is controlled by the Sudanese army, where grain mills in the city provide the “Star Link” Internet service to citizens to facilitate financial transfers.

However, the crowding of citizens led to some of them remaining on the road for days, as they were cut off from their means of survival. Others left for the eastern states, to which communication and Internet services were restored, and then returned again to the island state after saving cash.

The power outage for months in some villages also imposed another isolation from the world.

Women victims

Wednesday, February 28, was just another turning point in the life of Muhammad Ibrahim and his successive journey of displacement. On the way to his village carrying food supplies in preparation for the month of Ramadan, the support forces had mobilized and advanced towards areas under the control of the Sudanese army, where violent clashes took place. In villages about 50 kilometers east of the city of Al-Manaqil, which is under the control of the army.

According to eyewitnesses, the Rapid Support invaded the villages of "Portbil" and "Medina Arab", which were witnessing the advance and concentration of army forces, and attacked citizens by beating and looting property, shops, and homes, and practiced excessive violence towards the residents, so they fled on foot and headed towards the city of Al-Manaqil, which... It was crowded with people fleeing the hell of Rapid Support violations.

This city, which was crowded with displaced people, is witnessing intense military reinforcements by the Sudanese army.

Arab women fleeing the city area, who went out on foot along agricultural roads, and were interviewed by Al Jazeera Net, reported that Rapid Support forces threatened to take their daughters hostage if they did not return their gold.

One of them says: “I begged him and told him that we had no money or gold, but they searched the houses, flogged the young men until blood ran from their bodies, and looted and destroyed the market and shops in the area.”

As for H.N., a woman in her seventies who suffers from cancer, she also began - under duress - a journey of displacement towards the eastern states.

The Rapid Support Forces had previously announced that they had formed a committee to combat “negative phenomena” to confront the criminals, and explained that the committee had imposed severe penalties on aggressors against citizens in the state of Al-Jazira and dealt with live bullets with those who refused to respond to the committee’s orders in the state.

Food crisis

Dozens of citizens displaced from their villages were forced to take refuge in schools, mosques, and sleep on the roads, using trucks and animals as a means of transportation and escaping to safer places. In some villages west of the city of Wad Medani, only displaced people remained who resided in schools and could not find a way out.

Along the roads extending into the areas under their control in Al-Jazeera State, the Rapid Support Forces - through their bases - impose fees on trucks and merchants’ goods, and loot trucks’ goods and shops in a number of villages in Al-Jazeera State and try to sell them at less than their prices. They also sought to impose financial fees on Each house is in some village on the island.

The battles in Gezira State caused a severe food crisis, and in the face of the continuing unrest in the state and the crowding of those fleeing in transportation stops, some of them were forced to stay, stressing that there was no other place to go, while others searched for means of transportation, choosing to return to the capital, Khartoum.

Source: Al Jazeera