Sudan: Army accuses RSF of West Darfur governor "assassination"

The Sudanese army on Wednesday accused the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of "abducting and murdering" the governor of West Darfur state, nearly two months after a power struggle between two rivals plunged the country into a bloody war.

The assassination of Khamis Abdallah Abakar means the Rapid Support Forces have added a "new line to their list of barbaric crimes committed against the entire Sudanese people", the military said on Facebook, calling the incident "act brutally". 

Since April 15, the war between the army of General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, has claimed more than 1,800 lives according to the NGO ACLED, and more than a million and a half displaced, according to the UN.

Generals Al-Burhane and Daglo had joined forces during the 2021 putsch to oust the civilians with whom they had shared power since the fall of Bashir in 2019. But differences then emerged and, in the absence of agreement on the integration of the FSR in the army, degenerated into war.

The fighting is mainly concentrated in the capital Khartoum and in Darfur, a region where local militias, tribal fighters and armed civilians have joined the clashes.

While several truces have not been applied, NGOs are reporting a deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Khartoum and Darfur.