Sudanese Police Blame RSF Paramilitaries for 11 Bodies Discovered in Khartoum Well

Sudanese authorities announced on Sunday that multiple bodies were discovered at the bottom of a well in Khartoum, just days after the military cleared the area of a notorious paramilitary group.

The bodies were recovered on Saturday from a deep well in Khartoum's Fayhaa neighborhood [Ebrahim Hamid/AFP via Getty]

According to police, 11 bodies—including women and children—were recovered on Saturday from a deep well in the city's Fayhaa neighborhood.

Col. Abdul-Rahman Mohamed Hassan, head of the civil defense’s field team in Khartoum, stated that a search was initiated after residents reported finding a dead body in the well.

“We found inside this well different characters (bodies), males and females, adults and children,” Hassan stated that authorities were still conducting a search of the well.

According to the police, the victims were killed by the Rapid Support Forces and then disposed of in the well while the paramilitary group controlled the area. Earlier this month, the military recaptured the area as part of its widespread advances in Khartoum and Omdurman.

The RSF has not yet provided a response.

Afraa al-Hajj Omar, a resident of the Hajj Youssef neighborhood, stated that the RSF killed numerous people in the area, leaving their bodies in the streets for days. She also mentioned that many bodies were disposed of in the well. “They robbed us, beat us, and tortured us,” she said.

Sudan descended into turmoil in April 2023 when long-standing tensions between the military and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted into full-scale warfare nationwide.

The conflict has claimed at least 20,000 lives, though the actual toll is likely much higher. More than 14 million people have been displaced, and parts of the country are now facing famine.

The fighting has devastated Khartoum and other cities, with reports of widespread atrocities, including mass rape and ethnically targeted killings—acts that the United Nations and international human rights organizations classify as war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly in Darfur.

In recent months, the war has escalated, with the military making steady gains against the RSF in Khartoum and other areas.

(This Article was originally published by MSN)