Al Burhan Market .. SAF publicly sell items after looting them from citizens’ homes

In the locality of Karari, Sabreen area, along the northern part of Omdurman city, a market is located, where citizens’ belongings that were originally looted from their homes by elements are sold, according to the statements of citizens in the city.

The residents of the city called the market “Al-Burhan Market”, in reference to the Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), because the goods are put on display by fighters affiliated with the Sudanese Army or what is known as “The Mobilized fighters” in latter’s ranks.

One of the residents mentioned that the Sudanese Army fighters are selling goods in the market -rather publicly- while wearing their military uniforms, and carrying their weapons on their backs. He indicated that most of the items offered for sale are household items looted from the homes of citizens after the residents abandoned their areas due to the ongoing conflict.

He explained to (Erem News) that the market has been established since the earlier months of the war and is still ongoing, pointing out that the number of goods on display has increased recently after the Sudanese Army expanded their control over new areas in the cities of Omdurman and Khartoum Bahri.

Eyewitnesses from the areas of (Al-Halfaya and El-Samrab) in Khartoum Bahri, reported earlier that fighters affiliated with the Sudanese Army and its allied Armed Movements looted the homes of citizens in the area after the withdrawal of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). They confirmed that the looted items cross the Halfaya Bridge to the city of Omdurman.

Specialized Markets

A report published by the member of the Executive Office of the “Emergency Lawyers” Human Rights Organization, Rehab Mubarak, reported information regarding a number of markets dedicated for selling looted items by Sudanese Army soldiers in the city of Omdurman, however, the report confirmed that most of the stolen items are disposed of in “Al-Burhan Market” in the Sabreen area.

The report, which was reviewed by (Erem News), indicated the existence of another market dedicated to selling “illegal drugs” where the citizens’ looted property is exchanged for illegal substances. The market is located near the Thirtieth Station on Al-Wadi Street in Omdurman.

The report confirmed the existence of another market; “The 17th Lafah” Market, which is dedicated as well to selling stolen items, in addition to the “Beir Hamad” Market, the largest market for selling stolen cars.

The report indicated that in the areas controlled by the Sudanese Army in Omdurman, “The heat/Harr” Market is located, where drugs, stolen cars, and weapons are sold, from the smallest to the largest pieces.

The report also confirmed that “The heat/Harr” Market, which is located on Dongola Street near Al-Huda Prison, sells large trucks, such as “flatbeds”, indicating that it is one of the most dangerous markets.

Organized Crime

The report published by the member of the Executive Office of the “Emergency Lawyers” Human Rights Organization, Rehab Mubarak, provided precise details in regards to how the Sudanese Army soldiers and the mobilized fighters loot citizens’ homes, in a process that amounts to the level of organized crime.

“The most common method used to loot citizens’ homes is based on the arrival of Army patrols to the specified area, they close off the area or neighborhood to be looted, after which they proceed loot the homes -on a large scale, and citizens aren’t allowed to return to the homes from which they were removed by the Army patrol except with official approval from the authorities,” according to the report published by the Executive Office member.

The report confirmed that the aforementioned approval is often denied after the thefts, which -in turn- has displaced most of the citizens who originally resided within the areas controlled by the Sudanese Army, as they moved from one neighborhood to another, without being allowed to return to their homes after they were looted.

The report published by Rehab Mubarak noted that the looting operations have reached the level of stealing factory machinery after dismantling it, adding that “Currently, large factory machines, automated bakeries, gas plants and their pipes are being stolen from the industrial area in Omdurman.”

The report stated that the stolen goods are distributed among officers and soldiers, being transported via large trucks belonging to the Sudanese Army to be sold in the cities of (Atbara and Shendi) in the River Nile state, northern Sudan.

Continuous Looting Operations

The looting operations in the city of Omdurman weren’t the first of their kind, as systematic looting operations were carried out by the Sudanese Army soldiers in the areas they controlled, namely; (Singa and Ed-Dindir) as well as the neighboring villages in Sennar and Al-Jazeera states, in addition to the city of Wad Madani, after the aforementioned were under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Activist Mohammed Khalifa, who has been monitoring war violations in Sudan, stated that armed men affiliated with the Sudanese Army and its allied militias break into empty homes and loot them, at gunpoint, anyone who resists the thefts is accused of collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces and is immediately executed.

Abu Rouf Resistance Committees had accused, in a statement, members of the Sudanese Army of looting citizens’ belongings from their homes in the old neighborhoods of Omdurman, after the Army took control of the area. The Resistance Committees called on the Sudanese Army leadership to stop the thefts and hold the perpetrators accountable.