Battle of Kutum | |||||||
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Part of The Sudanese civil war (2023–present) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Darfur Border Guards | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
75+ civilians killed [1] 90% of Kutum's population flees [2] |
The Battle of Kutum was a conflict during the War in Sudan which occurred in and around the town of Kutum in North Darfur. [3] The Rapid Support Forces quickly overran the city, and carried out massacres in the city and the neighboring Kassab IDP camp. The group then attacked neighboring villages in early June. [4]
In Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, many Janjaweed enlisted into the Rapid Support Forces led by Hemedti, a paramilitary affiliated with the Sudanese Army founded in 2013. Civilian-administration leader Abdalla Hamdok was overthrown in 2021 by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the transitional military leader, with the aid of the RSF. However, by early 2023, tensions grew between Hemedti and Burhan over the integration of the RSF into the Sudanese Army, as the integration would heavily decrease RSF's independence and effectiveness. [5] These tensions came to a head on April 15, when RSF soldiers attacked SAF positions in Khartoum and Merowe.
There were no known attacks in Kutum the week fighting broke out on April 15, despite other cities in North Darfur such as El Fasher and Kabkabiya facing attacks by the RSF. [6] This peace continued through May, even as ceasefires in El Fasher held up and the RSF consolidated control over Kabkabiya. [7]
The fighting in Kutum began on May 30 after a local gang killed a Darfur Border Guards officer who was a relative of Janjaweed founder and war criminal Musa Hilal. [8] The RSF then attacked central Kutum, sparking clashes between the group and the SAF. [9] Despite the Sudanese government claiming to have repelled the RSF attack, residents stated that the city was captured by the RSF on June 4. [10] The RSF released a video the next day of RSF fighters touring the garrison of the Sudanese Army's 22nd Brigade and showing captured SAF soldiers. [11]
Clashes broke out in central Kutum on May 30, and spread to Kassab refugee camp on June 4. [12] At least fifty civilians were killed in the attacks on Kassab, with many more injured. [13] In the fighting, the market in Kutum was destroyed, along with much of Kassab. [14] Minni Minnawi, the governor of Darfur region, called Kutum a "disaster zone" on June 5, and deplored the massacres. [13] Residents speaking to Middle East Eye stated that the perpetrators of the attacks on Kassab were the RSF, and that official buildings in the town were torched. [4] Many residents fled to El Fasher or Hashabah, both dozens of kilometers away. [4]
North Darfur governor Nimir Abdelrahman released a statement deploring the killings. [15] On June 7, the Sudanese Combating Violence Against Women Unit stated that at least 18 women, including teenagers, were raped by the RSF and aligned Darfur Border Guards after they captured the city. [16] Attacks on villages surrounding Kutum began on June 9, with the mayor of Farouk town Mohamedein Bektum being executed by RSF fighters after refusing to give up his car key. [17] [12] [18] In the June 8 and 9 attacks, at least thirty-five more people were killed in RSF attacks. [19] Later, Governor Abdelrahman stated that 5,000 families in Kutum alone were in need of humanitarian assistance. [20] By July, more than 90% of the population of Kutum had fled. [21]
By July, the RSF had imposed fees on remaining Kutum residents in exchange for protection from gangs and reprisal attacks. Merchants along the Kutum-El Fasher road were taxed as well. Remaining residents attest that attacks on nearby villages, along with massacres and rapes, continued. [21]
On 28 May 2024, [22] the Sudanese Armed Forces bombed Kutum Hospital, a medical complex for wounded civilians and others in Kutum, Sudan, during the Sudanese civil war, killing and injuring many people. [23] The attack severely damaged the maternity ward, several hospital buildings, and medical equipment, while completely dismantling the hospital's electrical grid. [22] [23]
Kutum is a town in the Sudanese state of North Darfur. It lies 120 kilometers (75 mi) northwest of the state capital, Al-Fashir. The town is located along a wadi and therefore also known as Wadi Kutum. It lies north along the Marrah Mountains; the Kutum volcanic field is better known as the Tagabo Hills. As of 2006, it had a population of 45,000, predominantly of the Fur, Tunjur and Berti ethnicities. Kutum lies on one of the traditional north–south migration routes used by Darfuri pastoralists.
The Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile was an armed conflict and insurgency in the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N), a northern affiliate of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in South Sudan. After some years of relative calm following the 2005 agreement which ended the second Sudanese civil war between the Sudanese government and SPLM rebels, fighting broke out again in the lead-up to South Sudan independence on 9 July 2011, starting in South Kordofan on 5 June and spreading to the neighboring Blue Nile state in September. SPLM-N, splitting from newly independent SPLM, took up arms against the inclusion of the two southern states in Sudan with no popular consultation and against the lack of democratic elections. The conflict is intertwined with the War in Darfur, since in November 2011 SPLM-N established a loose alliance with Darfuri rebels, called Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).
The following lists events during 2023 in the Republic of the Sudan.
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The Darfur campaign or Darfur offensive is a theatre of operation in the war in Sudan that affects five states in Darfur: South Darfur, East Darfur, North Darfur, Central Darfur and West Darfur. The offensive mainly started on 15 April 2023 in West Darfur where the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) forces captured Geneina, the conflict came after several days of high tensions between the forces and the government.
The following is a timeline of the Sudanese civil war (2023–present) in 2023.
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The siege of El Fasher is an ongoing battle for control of the town of El Fasher in North Darfur during the Sudan conflict. The first battle for the city took place between 15 and 20 April 2023, and resulted in a ceasefire that held until 12 May. Clashes broke out again between 12 and 29 May, and ended with a more stable ceasefire that lasted until August. By September, the city had become a haven for refugees across the region, without enough food and water.
The siege of El Obeid was a siege in El-Obeid, North Kordofan, Sudan, during the 2023 Sudan conflict. The battle began on April 15, and saw the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) capture the El Obeid airport from the Sudanese Army contingent in the city. Throughout April and May, the Sudanese Army repelled several RSF assaults on the city, although by May 30, the RSF fully surrounded the city and laid siege to it.
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The following lists events during 2024 in the Republic of the Sudan.
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The following is a timeline of the Sudanese civil war (2023–present) in 2024.
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