Sudanese authorities have uncovered a disturbing discovery in the capital, Khartoum, where 11 bodies, including those of women and children, were found at the bottom of a well in the city’s Fayhaa neighborhood. The bodies were recovered on Saturday, a few days after Sudan’s military regained control of the area from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a notorious paramilitary group.
According to Col. Abdul-Rahman Mohamed Hassan, head of the civil defense’s field team, the search was initiated after a local resident reported finding a body in the well. “We found inside this well different characters (bodies), males and females, adults and children,” Hassan said, adding that authorities were continuing to investigate.
Police have accused the RSF of committing the killings before discarding the bodies in the well, during the group’s control of the area. The RSF has yet to comment on the claims.
Afraa al-Hajj Omar, a local resident, shared a harrowing account, saying that RSF forces had killed many in the neighborhood and left their bodies in the streets for days before dumping them into the well. “They robbed us, beat us, and tortured us,” Omar stated.
The violence in Sudan escalated in April 2023, when tensions between the military and the RSF erupted into full-scale conflict. The war has claimed at least 20,000 lives, displaced over 14 million people, and left the country on the brink of famine. The conflict has been marked by widespread atrocities, including mass rapes and ethnic killings, particularly in Darfur, which have been condemned by the United Nations and international human rights organizations.
The fighting in Khartoum and other urban areas has intensified, with the military making gradual advances against the RSF. The discovery of the bodies in the well adds to the growing evidence of war crimes committed throughout the ongoing conflict.
