Joint Force Kills Children and Women, Burns the Market

Local sources in (Al-Zurruq) area of North Darfur state revealed that the Joint Force fighting alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) targeted citizens from Arab tribes in (Al-Zurruq) area, located on the border triangle between Libya, Chad, and Sudan, after stationing there for a few hours, before its members fled the area.

They shared that the Joint Force burned the main hospital after looting and completely destroying it, in addition to destroying all water sources and wells, and stealing the equipment.

On Sunday morning, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced news of its forces regaining control over (Al-Zurruq) area in North Darfur state, and the expulsion of the Joint Force that launched an attack yesterday evening, enabling it’s fighters to enter the main market and some sites around the area.

Other sources – resident in the area confirmed that the Joint Force looted all the shops and warehouses in the main market and burned everything that remained, in addition, its fighters burned and destroyed the only fuel station in (Al-Zurruq).

The Joint Force launched an attack while fleeing from (Al-Zurruq) on a number of villages in and around the area, looting, burning and displacing its residents, in what can only be considered a “systematic ethnic targeting” by the Joint Force of citizens from Arab tribes who reside in (Al-Zurruq).

The sources explained that the area is hardly what its rumored to be -having RSF military bases. Rather, the sources indicated that the sum of military presence in the area is limited to a military maintenance workshop for the Rapid Support Forces that isn’t currently in service. Moreover, the sources denied the existence of any military airport or runway in the area.

However, the sources also revealed that the Joint Force’s attack on (Al-Zurruq) was driven by ethnic motives, blatantly evident in the destruction of the villages of Arab tribes, confirming that the Joint Force attacked defenseless citizens, burned a number of villages and looted homes.

For his part, the Advisor to the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Al-Basha Tibeaq, stated that the purpose of the attack by the Armed Movements headed by Minni Arcua Minnawi and Gibril Ibrahim, yesterday evening, on (Al-Zurruq) area, is “An ethnic cleansing, incited by racist motives related to implementing the former State’s agenda of destroying the social fabric in Darfur.”

In a statement issued on Sunday morning, the Rapid Support Forces accused the Joint Force fighting alongside the Sudanese Army of committing crimes of ethnic cleansing against civilians in (Al-Zurruq) area, that it deliberately killed a number of children, women and the elderly. In addition, the Joint Force “burned water wells, markets, healthcare centers, schools, civilian homes, and both public and private facilities in a campaign of systematic destruction aimed at erasing livelihoods and sowing despair,” according to the Rapid Support Forces statement.