Destroying Sudan in the Name of Total Islamist Conquest

"Thousands of people have been killed since fighting erupted just over a year ago between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group that is the latest iteration of the janjaweed [devils on horseback], which was central to the ethnic cleansing in Darfur in the 2000s. The R.S.F. helped to crack down on pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019 and, with its general Mohamed Hamdan ... was part of a power-sharing regime that fell apart in April."

"Now it is at war with its former partners in government, and the Sudanese people have become collateral damage. A report from Human Rights Watch in May detailed the R.S.F.'s ethnic-cleansing campaign against the Masalit and other non-Arab people in West Darfur."

"There have been other reports of summary executions, torture and rape. Across the country more than 11 million people have been displaced. Homes have been occupied and looted. Museums have been targeted and their contents probably sold, destroyed or just taken."

"And yet the international community still stands by. Attention is rarely paid to Sudan, and much of what I read reduces the conflict to a power struggle between two generals or a migration problem for Europe. Perhaps this is why R.S.F. fighters feel so free to broadcast their crimes on social media."

Dena Ibrahim, Sudanese national in self-exile abroad

Objects are scattered in the yard of house in Omdurman, central Sudan, May 30, 2024, that was damaged amid fighting in the civil war that has raged for more than a year between the regular military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. AFP/Getty

 

In this barbaric version of a civil war in Sudan, civilian deaths and the aura of terrorism are not  unfamiliar to those who had previously suffered both at the hands of the military and its accomplice in violent persecution now known as the Rapid Support Forces. Back when the black farming community of Darfur was targeted by the Arab-led government of Omar al-Bashir and his horsed henchmen the conflict arose from tensions between agriculturalists and herders competing for scarce land resources.

Now the new war that is tearing the country apart is one of dominance by a fundamentalist Islamism that spurns any government direction toward democracy for its people. Across the country people have been dispossessed of their land holdings, of their homes, of their ability to earn a living, while scarce basic necessities of life including famine sit heavily on the land. Homes are being pillaged, their owners moving on hoping to survive the marauders who loot anything of value.

 

Hospitals have been destroyed, millions of people are facing the threat of dislocation and death. In the year-old war between the Sudanese military and the transformed janjaweed, an estimated 2.5 million people are said to be in danger of starvation. Half the population of fifty million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Non-Arab communities are the targets of the dominant Arab half of the population, finding common cause with the Rapid Support Forces.

 

Residents displaced from a surge of violent attacks squat on blankets and in hastily made tents in the village of Masteri in west Darfur. Paramilitary forces and their allied militias fighting to take power in Sudan carried out widespread ethnic killings and rapes while taking control of much of western Darfur that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. (Mustafa Younes via AP, File)

 

A country that was finally on its way to achieving a measure of democracy for its people, has been set back on its heels, its ancient heritage in tatters as R.S.F. fighters loot the country's museums, opening ancient caskets with their 3,000-year-old corpses, The Sudanese National Museum rebuilt with aid by UNESCO and the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, home to artifacts such as steles of ancient warrior queens and 13th-century Christian frescoes has been looted of its historic treasure. 

 

University libraries and archives have been ransacked and torched. Summary executions complete a picture of violent chaos. Over 14,000 Sudanese have died in this year of civil war. Its brutality has some similarities to the still-ongoing conflict in Syria where the regime of Bashar al-Assad continues to target his Sunni Syrian population, some 400,000 of whom have been killed. An ongoing civil war that Russian warplanes aid the Alawite regime with in exchange for a Russian deep sea port. Russia awaits the same opportunity with Sudan.

 

Over ten million Sudanese have been internally displaced. Another two million have fled to neighbouring countries for haven. Charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity are once again being seen in Darfur. Crimes of sexual violence have become an integral part of the conflict, victimizing women and children. A main hospital in Darfur was looted, its closure forced, according to an international humanitarian group. 

 

According to Doctors Without Borders, South Hospital in al-Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur province was attacked by the Rapid Support Forces on Sunday, which opened fire on medical staff and patients. Local media published images showing abandoned wards and corridors, patient beds and medical equipment damaged, blood staining the floors. The Military fought the RSF and forced their withdrawal from the hospital.