Darfur Town Destroyed hrw: Sudan
In late April 2023, following the outbreak of the conflict in Khartoum between the Sudan Armed Forces and the RSF, some local police and the army garrison withdrew from Misterei without informing local leaders or residents. Residents said their departure left the town vulnerable. Previously,"attackers would often not progress further in[to] town," said one resident. In an attack, the"local community [would] find safe refuge inside the army garrison.
Around 5:30 a.m., the fighting started at our position, from the southwest. We only had Kalashnikovs [assault rifles]. Arabs and the RSF came in large numbers, first on foot [and] then on motorbikes: the first wave [was] around 400 men on foot; the second wave, 150 to 200 motorbikes; the third wave, six RSF vehicles which I recognized by their emblem; and [in] the last wave [there] were a lot of horses.
He said Arab militiamen then entered his house and shot his cousin"many times, in the chest," killing him. He said he then jumped over the wall and ran for safety. Khadija [had] a horse and was holding the horse to take it with her to the school. They stopped her and told her:"You leave that horse!" but she refused, and they shot her. And when they looked to that man [an imam], they ... shot him and they shot my brother.A woman in her thirties said that when she opened the door to her house, she saw"so many Arabs.
I met an old man there. We both hid [on the pulpit] ... An armed Arab man came in and ordered [us] both to step down. As we were doing so, he shot the ... man in the chest and [the man] fell to the ground. He shot [at] me too. His bullet passed over my ear ... then he left. The other man bled to death there and I then covered him with a rug.RSF and Arab militias pursued scores of civilians who sought to hide in schools.
In the primary school for boys next door, a 35-year-old teacher who was then nine-months pregnant, said eight RSF fighters entered the classroom where she had sought protection with about 20 people. When the assailants entered, one of the men in hiding had been trying to provide first aid to two men who had suffered gunshot wounds on their way to the school. The teacher said:
I heard and saw armed Arab men entering the school, shouting,"Where are your men?" Immediately, they found six men and shot them at close range. I don't know if they [the victims] [had been] wounded before or [if they were] fighters. I saw that from where I was hiding. They spared the children and women. They then left. When they left, I moved to see what happened [and] saw the six men lying there dead. There was so much blood on the floor ... [W]omen and children [were] crying.
A 63-year-old man living in the Al-Shati neighborhood said that attackers broke into his home, where neighbors had gathered when the attack started:"Arabs ... took everything we have. I saw them taking bags of seeds, beans, bread, and wheat, and [then they] left." In other homes, the assailants stole solar panels, doors, and windows,"food items such as peanuts ... blankets, beds, mattresses," jerrycans, and chairs, and dishes, and cooking utensils.
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