CAIRO, Egypt
The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday it had facilitated the release of 125 Sudanese army soldiers held captive by the country’s rival paramilitary force.
The soldiers walked free on
Wednesday, the ICRC said, as the violent conflict between the army, led by Gen.
Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by
Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, enters its 11th week.
Fighting between the rival
forces broke out on April 15 and has killed more than 3,000 people, the
country’s Health Ministry said. Over 2.5 million people have been displaced,
according to the latest U.N. figures.
The freed men — 44 of whom were wounded —
were transported from the capital, Khartoum, to the city of Wad Madani, 160
kilometers (100 miles) to the south, the ICRC said in a short statement. It
remains unclear where the 125 men were being held.
“This positive step means that
families will be celebrating Eid-al Adha with their loved ones,” said Jean
Christophe Sandoz, ICRC’s head of delegation in Sudan.
The
RSF claim to have detained hundreds of army soldiers since the fighting broke
out. Interviews with army detainees feature prominently on the paramilitary’s
social media, with soldiers — who often appear bruised and frightened — telling
their families they are being treated well by their RSF captors.
Earlier this week, both
generals separately announced a cease-fire to mark the first day of the Muslim
festival of Eid al-Adha, which fell on Wednesday. Residents from East Khartoum
said light gunfire and intermittent explosions could be heard throughout the
truce.
Since the conflict broke out
there have been at least nine cease-fires, but all have foundered.
The U.N. and other rights
groups have continually criticized both forces for harming civilians and
violating international law.
In a statement issued
Wednesday, the U.N.'s mission to the country condemned the army for bombing
residential areas, while accusing RSF of ethnically targeted violence in the
western Darfur region and raping civilians.
Darfur, along with Khartoum,
has been the violent epicenter of the ongoing conflict. In West Darfur
province, the RSF and Arab militias have been reportedly targeting non-Arab
tribes, according to local rights groups and the U.N.
In a report issued last week
by the Dar Masalit sultanate, the leader of the African Masalit ethnic
community accused Arab militias, backed by the RSF, of “committing genocide
against African civilians.” More than 5,000 people were killed in the
province’s capital, Genena, he estimated.
ICRC rescued 297 children from
an orphanage in the capital in early June. The operation came after 71 children
had died from hunger and illness in the facility since mid-April.
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