Rights group calls for international force to protect Sudanese amid a rampage by paramilitaries

CAIRO — A leading rights group on Monday called for an international force to protect civilians in war-torn Sudan amid reports that a notorious paramilitary group has killed dozens of civilians and committed widespread rapes during a rampage in a province neighboring Khartoum.

Sudan has been plunged into war for narly 19 months in a struggle for power between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has been accused of atrocities in multiple areas where it has seized control.

The Rapid Support Forces rampaged through the province of Gezira last month , attacking towns and villages.

Human Rights Watch said the RSF has ''killed, injured, and unlawfully detained scores of civilians and raped women and girls'' in Gezira. It urged Britain to use its turn as president of the United Nations Security Council this month to push for U.N. action to deploy a mission to protect civilians in Sudan.

''This recent massive uptick in the Rapid Support Forces' heinous attacks against civilians should end any lingering hopes that these crimes will stop without a strong global response,'' said Mohamed Osman, HRW's Sudan researcher. ''The U.N. Security Council's minimal action is clearly failing to protect civilians."

The war began in April 2023 when growing tensions between the military and RSF exploded into fighting in the capital Khartoum and around Sudan. More than 24,000 people have been killed and more than 14 million people — about 30% of the population — have been driven from their homes, creating the world's largest displacement crisis this year, according to the International Organization for Migration, or IOM. Famine has struck some areas, and a cholera outbreak has killed more than 800 people and sickened 28,000 others.

Gezira province, southeast of Khartoum, has been largely controlled by the RSF since December. In October, one of its commanders running the province, Abu Aqlah Keikel, defected and surrendered to the military.

RSF fighters responded with a rampage through towns and villages across the province.

The fighters shot civilians and sexually attacked and raped women and girls in multiple places, according to the U.N. and local groups. About 135,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since Oct. 20, according to the IOM.

Three Sudanese - two women and a young man - told The Associated Press that RSF fighters stormed their town, Tamboul, on Oct. 22, firing on civilians in their houses. They said they saw fighters shoot 12 men in the streets as they tried to escape. Many people, including women and girls, were detained, they said.

''They went from house to house telling people to leave'' and searching for people connected to Keikel, said one woman, Inaam Abu Gassim, speaking by phone from her shelter in nearby Qadarif province.

At least 47 women and girls were raped around Tamboul, the Sudanese Doctors' Union said. A 7-year-old girl bled to dead after she was raped, Dr. Yassar al-Besheri, a spokesman for the union, told the AP.

In another town, Sariha, at least 123 people were killed and 200 others wounded in late October, the union said.

Human Rights Watch quoted a man from Sariha as saying that RSF fighters stopped him, his wife and three daughters as they fled their homes on Oct. 22.

''One of the RSF soldiers looked at my youngest daughter, who is 15, and said: ‘Leave her so we can enjoy her, and you can leave.','' the 51-year-old man was quoted as saying. He and his family, including his daughter, managed to escape, HRW reported.

In the city of al-Hilaliya, the union said at least 200 people died this month. At least two dozen were killed by RSF fighters. The rest reportedly died from torture, starvation and disease, it said.

Sudan's conflict has raged as global attention has been shifted over the past year to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and recently to Lebanon where Israel launched a ground offensive against Hezbollah last month.

Rights groups have repeatedly urged international powers to pressure Sudan's warring sides to stop fighting and negotiate a peaceful settlement to the conflict. The United States and Saudi Arabia have led multiple rounds of talks between the military and the RSF, most recently in August, but all failed to establish a cease-fire.

A senior U.S. government official said the warring sides have been focusing their efforts on achieving military gains following the end of the rainy season.

The Biden administration has been working with its allies in the region to get them back to the negotiating table, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

''So we are certainly trying actively with both African and Gulf partners, as well as European allies, and I think that we may or may not see something develop on that soon,'' he said.