A recent United Nations report has revealed that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militias have been relying on new military supply lines passing through several countries, including Libya. This development has emerged amidst the ongoing conflict in the region.
The report, presented to the UN Security Council, draws on intelligence sources compared with UN estimates. It indicates that approximately 12,000 people were killed across Sudan since the outbreak of the war between the Sudanese Army and the RSF on 15 April 2023, with a staggering 10,000 to 15,000 casualties in West Darfur alone in the past year.
The RSF, according to the UN report, has been supported by a complex financial network aiding its war effort in Sudan, alongside Arab states. The new military supply routes identified include pathways through Chad, Libya, and South Sudan.
Previous reports have documented the RSF and allied Arab militias’ involvement in ethnic violence in West Darfur, with actions amounting to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. However, specific figures on the fatalities were not provided.
In a revealing incident captured on video in June last year, the governor of West Darfur, Khemis Abkar, a member of the Masalit tribes targeted by the RSF and allied Arab militias, was executed by the RSF shortly after his arrest.
The report also highlights the United Arab Emirates’ military support to the RSF, stating that “several times a week” assistance was provided through Um Jaras in northern Chad. The UAE, however, countered in a communication to the observers, claiming that 122 flights to Um Jaras delivered humanitarian aid to those fleeing the war.
The UN Sanctions Monitors, in their annual report to the 15-member Security Council, affirmed that the attacks were planned, coordinated, and executed by the RSF and allied militias. The report details targeted killings, particularly of young men after interrogations about their ethnic affiliations, with many from the Masalit community summarily executed. Additionally, widespread sexual and physical violence against women, as well as indiscriminate shooting leading to casualties among women and children, were reported.
Furthermore, the observers disclosed widespread sexual violence linked to the conflict, perpetrated by the RSF and its allies. The RSF’s complex financial networks, established before and during the war, enabled them to acquire weapons, pay salaries, fund media campaigns, exert pressure, and buy the support of other political and armed groups. The report adds that the RSF used revenues from pre-war gold operations to establish a network of up to 50 companies, across various industries.