Governor Darfur Barat Killed After Blame RSF For Violence In Sudan

PIXABAY ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Governor of West Darfur in Sudan Khamis Abdallah Abkar was killed shortly after he blamed the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for violence in the country.

Videos shared online showed a group of gunmen arresting Abkar. Other footage shows the governor lying on the ground with wounds to his neck and face.

Abkar's death came moments after he in an interview blamed RSF for a wave of killings and looting in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.

In a statement, Sudanese soldiers accused RSF of kidnapping and killing the governor.

"This horrific behavior adds to the new chapter of the barbaric crimes they (RSF) committed against Sudanese people who have experienced crimes that have never occurred in the history of this country," the Sudanese military said as reported by ANTARA from Anadolu, Thursday, June 15.

The Sudanese army said the killed governor had nothing to do with the current conflict between the Sudanese military and the RSF.

So far there has been no statement from the paramilitary group regarding the allegations.

The Justice and Equality Movement group condemned the governor's assassination as "serious development."

The killings serve as "an extension of the horrific abuse committed in the city of Geneina," the movement group said in a statement.

The Sudanese Liberation Army movement also denounced the killing as a "disgraceful crime that does not reflect Sudanese values and morale" and called for an investigation into the death of the West Darfur governor.

Hundreds of people have died and were injured in Geneina amid a wave of looting in recent weeks.

The United Nations on Wednesday said an escalating attack on Darfur could be a "crime against humanity".

Sudan has been devastated by fighting between soldiers and RSF since mid-April. Nearly 1,000 civilians were killed and thousands injured in the violence, according to local medics.

More than 2.2 million people were displaced by the conflict that occurred while in Sudan, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.

In recent months, disagreements have occurred between the Sudanese armed forces and the RSF over the RSF's integration plan into the armed forces, which is a requirement for Sudan's transitional agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been running without a government that has been functioning since October 2021 when the military dissolved Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency, a move criticized by political power as a "coup".

The transitional period of government in Sudan, which began in August 2019 after the overthrow of President Omal al-Bashir, is scheduled to end in the early 2024 general elections.