73 People In Sudan Died Of Mysterious Disease

UNSPLASH/Ante Samarzija ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - A total of 73 people died from a mysterious disease in the city of al-Hilaliya in Sudan, which is surrounded by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

This is one of dozens of villages under attack in eastern El Gezira state since the defection of a major RSF commander to the army, which sparked a revenge attack that has displaced more than 135,000 people.

The war between the two powers has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis, causing more than 11 million people to flee and leaving more people starving, and attracting foreign powers and fueling fears of a state collapse.

Although the high death rate in other areas of Gezira occurred as a result of shootings and RSF shots, in Hilaliya people fell ill due to diarrhea, thus filling local hospitals according to unions and three people from the area.

The network outage carried out by the RSF made it difficult to determine the exact cause of death of the dozens of people.

Reported by Reuters on Thursday, November 7, a man said three of his family members died of the same disease, but he only found out a few days later when others fled to areas with internet access.

Those who want to leave have to pay a large amount of money at the RSF checkpoint, said another man.

According to pro-democracy activists, the siege began on October 29 as RSF raided the city, killing five residents and local residents in three mosques.

Hilaliya is home to the family of commanders who defected, Abuagla Keikal, who locals say may be the cause of a previously stable trade center siege and housed 50,000 people, including many displaced from other areas.

Markets and warehouses in the city were looted, witnesses said.

Satellite imagery from Yale Humanitarian Lab reports showed a rapid increase in the number of graves in several cities of Gezira since the latest revenge attacks began in late October.

This also shows evidence of burning agricultural land in Azrag Village.