麻豆社

Sudan's army has acknowledged that it has lost control of the central city of Wad Madani to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces following a battle. Earlier, General Mohammad Hamdan Dagallo, the RSF commander announced that his forces had - as he put it - 'liberated' the city. The Sudanese army said it was investigating why its military commander in Wad Madani withdrew.

Wad Madani had been a haven for hundreds of thousands of people who'd fled the fighting in the capital, Khartoum.

The United Nations has accused the RSF of carrying out massacres of civilians in West Darfur after finding mass graves, including the bodies of women and children.

Now, as the RSF has taken over the city of Wad Madani and seems poised to conquer more territory, there are fears of more atrocities.

Hala Alkarib is a Sudanese women's human rights activist based in Uganda and director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa.

鈥淚t's very scary... the RSF are going door-to-door. We are hearing every hour of new atrocities... everything is theirs - women and girls are raped in their homes, it's an ongoing pattern of domination.鈥�

"Sudanese civilians are left alone to confront these mercenaries. The question is who is financing this. And why?"

(Pic: A young Sudanese refugee mourns her husband who she says was killed by Rapid Support Forces in their home, as she is reunited with the rest of the family at a refugee camp in Chad FILE; Credit: Reuters)

Show less