The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) strongly criticized a statement from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on Sunday, dismissing its denial of involvement in the murder and beheading of three individuals based on tribal and ethnic grounds.
A video circulating online since Thursday allegedly shows military personnel celebrating with severed heads, claiming them to be RSF members.
This incident, likened to the methods employed by ISIS in public executions, has raised concerns about the escalating violence in Sudan. RSF refuted SAF’s attempts to conceal the truth, asserting that terrorist battalions of the former regime inflicted unspeakable horrors on Sudanese civilians for over three decades.
RSF emphasized that the only solution is to completely eradicate the former regime, putting an end to their inhumane reign. They assert that dismantling and preventing the former regime from returning to power is crucial to halting their barbarism.
The RSF pointed out that the beheading video is not the first released, accusing the armed forces of conducting similar massacres in the past and documenting the acts. They dismissed SAF’s announcement of an investigative committee as a deceptive tactic to divert attention from the harsh realities facing the Sudanese people.
According to the RSF, individuals in the video carrying out gruesome acts are easily identifiable by their names and ranks, receiving orders from the leadership of SAF and its supporters from the Bashir regime. The RSF predicts that attempts to cover up the crimes of their terrorist battalions will prove unsuccessful.
The RSF reiterated its commitment to treating prisoners of war from SAF and the now-defunct National Congress Party ethically and in line with international and humanitarian laws, emphasizing the high levels of restraint and morality demonstrated by its soldiers in such situations.
Sudan has since April 15, 2023 been plunged into a civil war pitting army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The conflict has resulted in a devastating toll, with over 12,190 casualties and the displacement of more than seven million people, according to estimates by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project and UN figures, respectively.
Mediation efforts have faced significant obstacles due to deep-seated animosity between the rival factions. Despite Burhan’s administration continuing to issue statements as Sudan’s government, Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces assert control over Khartoum’s streets, Darfur, and a substantial part of Al-Jazira, once Sudan’s vital agricultural region.