Over 10,000 killed in Sudan ethnic cleansing campaign

An as yet unpublished UN report on the war in Sudan reveals the scale of the ethnic violence perpetrated in West Darfur – a small strip of land where 2 million people live and an ethnic cleansing campaign is taking place within the war. In the spring of 2023, the report shows, 10-15,000 people were killed by members of the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the city of El Geneina alone, with extensive sexual violence visited on women and children. The death toll is four times higher than estimated as little as a month ago, and 4.7 million people are currently internally displaced in Darfur. The RSF now controls four out of five states in Darfur, thanks largely to military as well as financial backing from the UAE, which the report claims has been smuggling powerful and sophisticated weapons into Sudan through Chad. New anti-aircraft batteries in particular have helped the RSF counter the key asset of Sudan’s regular military – its air force.