KHARTOUM – The Sudanese army announced Thursday the discovery of mass graves containing the bodies of 465 people in the Al-Salha area, south of Omdurman, just two days after declaring Khartoum State free of Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In a statement, the army said that during recent clearing operations in southern Omdurman, the armed forces found the graves and freed a large number of civilians and retired members of the security forces who had been detained by the RSF and held in a school under inhumane conditions.
According to the statement, 648 individuals had been detained, of whom 465 died due to neglect, lack of food, medical care, and medicine. These victims were buried in mass graves, with some graves containing over 27 bodies each.
This announcement follows the army’s declaration on Tuesday that it had regained full control of Khartoum State after taking the last RSF strongholds in western and southern Omdurman. The RSF had previously announced in late March that it had repositioned its forces to southern and western Omdurman after withdrawing from most parts of Khartoum State.
For over two months, intense battles raged around Al-Salha and Al-Jumaiya, key RSF positions in southwest Omdurman, where, according to volunteers and activists, the RSF committed serious violations against civilians.
The Sudanese army and RSF have been locked in a violent conflict since mid-April 2023, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and millions of people displaced both within Sudan and beyond.
