Rapid Support Forces kill five civilians and burn several villages in West Darfur
Masalit and other ethnic minorities targeted by largely Arab militia
Sources from Sirba Locality in West Darfur State informed Sudan War Monitor that eight villages were burned, and five people were killed, with others injured, following an attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on several villages in the locality on the morning of Thursday, March 13, 2025.
The sources indicated that the attacking forces used armed Land Cruiser four-wheel-drive vehicles, known to be used by the RSF, and directly opened fire on several villages, including Qoz Bagar, Shalal, Tembistat, Jaka, Bradi, Hemida, Deilosi, and Shatan. This led to the deaths of at least five civilians. The attacking forces also carried out widespread looting of civilian property.
The identified victims are:
Adam Abdullah Adam
Mohammed Adam Armo
Anwar Amin Ahmed
Ibrahim Barko
Ishaq Adam
It is worth noting that the RSF had previously launched an attack on villages south of El Fasher, in Dar El Salam locality, North Darfur, killing dozens of civilians in late February. They also carried out extensive looting, targeting markets and civilian property, including livestock. At the time, sources from the area reported that RSF members had seized thousands of livestock and taken them to South Darfur state.
West Darfur State witnessed several episodes of severe violence in 2023, early in the current civil war, particularly in the state capital El Geneina, as well as Sirba and other towns and villages, as the RSF and allied Arab militias targeted both Sudanese military forces and civilians belonging to ethnic minorities.
The governor of the state, an ethnic Masalit, was killed during this violence and his body was publicly desecrated by civilians sympathetic to the RSF who espoused a pro-Arab racial philosophy, which dehumanizes other ethnicities in Darfur.
