Rapid Support arrest more than 80 people in South Darfur

Former army and police members targeted in Nyala

The Rapid Support Forces in the city of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, have intensified a campaign of mass arrests targeting perceived opponents, arresting more than 80 people during the past two weeks.

Local sources from Nyala told Sudan War Monitor that the RSF had begun their campaign last week against former police and army personnel in the city with the aim of recruiting them into its ranks, but the arrests also included civil service employees and ordinary citizens who had no connection to the police, army, or government.

One of the detainees released yesterday, Tuesday, said that a force from the RSF stormed his house in Nyala and took him to the Popular Market Police Department on charges of cooperating with the Sudan Armed Forces before he was transferred to the intelligence headquarters of the army’s 16th Infantry Division (which the RSF captured last year and renamed the 1st Division) in the center of the city of Nyala.

The detainee said that the RSF confiscated from him a Thuraya communications device and a sum of money exceeding one million Sudanese pounds. The source reported that the number of detainees exceeded 80 people, including civilians.

Meanwhile, the family of one of the detainees stated that their son was arrested by the RSF nearly a month ago without any charges being brought. The family appealed to the RSF Command to intervene to release their detained son as soon as possible and stop the process of arresting civilians.