Wave of atrocities in Darfur tarnishes Sudan’s coup authorities
Military leaders in Khartoum and their allies in armed groups from the western region have been accused of direct and indirect responsibility for the worst episode of atrocities since the generals’ seizure of power in October.
The Sudanese town of Kereinik, in west Darfur, was plunged into a sort of deja vu April 22. Following the killing of two men of the Arab Rzeigat community by unknown perpetrators, over 1,000 armed members of the same group stormed the town, in an attack in which at least eight men of the African Masalit people and seven Arab men were killed, according to the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The next day, security forces deployed in Kereinik, but withdrew shortly thereafter in the face of another large-scale assault on the town. On April 24, Rzeigat assailants seized control of the town for hours, during which they killed dozens of people, forced thousands to flee, and torched and looted hundreds of shops and houses, the OHCHR reported.
