Members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) arrested and beat civilians in Kabkabiya, North Darfur, accusing them of giving information to the Sudan Armed Forces to help direct airstrikes against the city.
Kabkabiya is not a combat zone but is only a few hours’ drive west of El Fasher, where heavy fighting has taken place since April. The RSF have controlled Kabkabiya since the early days of the conflict. It has suffered several airstrikes in different locations, including the city’s hospital.
We were able to geolocate a video posted August 5 on a pro-RSF Telegram channel, which showed two young men being severely beaten and forced to lie on the ground by armed men in a mix of military and civilian clothing.
“This is a collaborator, I will kill him,” the person filming the video says to the armed men, adding, “I will blow off his head, I will handcuff him.” He also says, “These are collaborators, these are computer masters, these are the ones who brought the aircraft that bombed Kabkabiya today,” referring to the young men’s computer skills, suggesting that they may have provided coordinates that led to the airstrike.
The video shows black smoke rising to the south of the site, indicating the potential site of a bomb impact. At the end of the clip, the sound of a weapon being loaded is heard, and then the recording stops. It is not possible to know whether the two young men were killed or are still alive.
According to a report by Darfur 24, Kabkabiya was bombed on August 2, without any civilian casualties. The independent news outlet said the bombing was the seventh of the city. In all, dozens were killed and wounded in these attacks.
Sudan’s Air Force uses “dumb bombs” that lack precision targeting and often seem to be dropped indiscriminately, resulting frequently in damage to non-military targets. Nevertheless, the RSF appear to be concerned that locals are passing information to the military to assist them with targeting.
A resident of Kabkabiya told Darfur 24 that the Rapid Support Forces have banned the Starlink satellite internet service, justifying the move by saying that there are individuals working to provide warplanes with coordinates.
Both sides in Sudan’s war have arrested civilians on unsubstantiated charges, accusing them of espionage and aiding the other warring party.
For example, the Sudan Witness Project, affiliated with the British organization Centre for Information Resilience, published an investigation in February into the killing of civilians in Wad Madani by men affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces. The killings came after the commander of the 1st Infantry Division in Jazira State called for “dealing with” collaborators in the state.