Battle of Geneina

In 2003, war broke out in western Sudan's Darfur region between the government sponsored, predominantly Arab Janjaweed militia aided by the Sudanese Armed Forces against the predominantly non-Arab Sudan Liberation Movement and Justice and Equality Movement, after SLM and JEM launched attacks against the Sudanese government and accusing them of genocide. El Geneina, as the capital of West Darfur, saw a copious amount of violence, due to it's location as the sultanate of the Masalit people.[11] The city had a population of 250,000 in 2008.[12]

In 2020, the war came to an end after several rebel groups signed a peace treaty with the Sudanese government following the Sudanese Revolution and the ousting of Omar al-Bashir. In the process, the Janjaweed restructured itself into the Rapid Support Forces, although many Darfuris still call it the Janjaweed.[13]

In early 2023, tensions rose between the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by the 2021 coup leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by Hemedti, remnants of Omar al-Bashir's Janjaweed that committed ethnic cleansing against non-Arab tribes in Darfur. These tensions came to a head on April 15, when RSF forces attacked Sudanese forces in Khartoum, Merowe, and several cities across Darfur, including Nyala, El Fasher, and Geneina.[14][15]

In Geneina however, West Darfur governor Khamis Abdallah Abkar declared a state of emergency on April 10 due to the killing of three people by the Sudanese Alliance, a militia led by the governor.[16] Clashes between Arabs and non-Arabs also broke out in Foro-Baranga, on the border with Chad, on April 13, leaving 24 people dead.[17]

The battle in Geneina broke out on April 15, and took place in the western part of Geneina.[18] The initial clashes lasted for an hour and a half, according to a Masalit tribal leader, and ended at noon.[19] Civilians began sheltering in their homes, and the Masalit leader stated the situation in the city was "turbulent and unstable.[19] Clashes continued into April 16, but little is known about them.[20] The Rapid Support Forces claimed late in the night of April 16 that they had captured the Geneina Airport, but this was impossible to verify at the time.[21] A nationwide ceasefire, originating in Khartoum, also failed to hold up in Geneina on April 16.[19]

By April 17, the El-Geneina hospital had closed due to the fighting.[22] At the time, the death toll and exact location of fighting in Geneina were impossible to verify, due to fog of war, and the fogginess of the sides.[23] While some sources stated fighting broke out between the SAF and RSF, others claimed clashes were actually between Arabs and the non-Arab Masalit.[24] Ahmed Gouja, a journalist in Nyala, corroborated the claims of the Arab-Masalit clashes, and that civilians had stolen weapons from the police station to protect themselves and their neighborhoods.[25] OCHA reported that UN offices were being looted in the city, and markets, homes, and offices of other humanitarian organizations were being torched.[24] On April 23, Sudanese Army forces attempted to recapture parts of the city from the RSF, but were pushed back into the army headquarters.[26]

On April 25, clashes intensified starting in al-Jamarik neighborhood.[27] In al-Jabal neighborhood, where Arab militiamen attacked the headquarters of the joint Sudanese-Chadian forces, and stole about eleven armored vehicles. Arab militiamen also attacked municipal and state organizations, including the town's police headquarters, market, and bank.[28] The fighting on April 25 began when Sudanese Alliance fighters attacked RSF bases in El Geneina.[28] Volker Perthes, the UN representative to Sudan, released a statement that day claiming that tribal leaders in El-Geneina began mobilization campaigns.[28] Perthes also stated militias from Central Darfur and North Darfur were joining fighting in El-Geneina. The Darfur Bar Association stated that 25 people were killed on April 25 alone, and thousands of refugees had fled to Chad.[29] The UN claimed over 96 people were killed.[30] The Deputy Police Director of West Darfur, Brig. Gen. Abdel-Baqi al-Hassan Mohamed, was killed in the fighting as well.[31]

Residents of El-Geneina claimed they saw "pick-up trucks full of dead people."[32] One resident, speaking to the BBC, claimed RSF soldiers burnt down all refugee camps in and around the city, and that fighters were attacking houses with rockets.[32][33] Community leaders in the city also stated that gunmen attacked displaced refugees in the center of the city, including the Abuzar refugee camp.[34] Médecins Sans Frontières released a statement claiming that the El Geneina Teaching Hospital was looted by militants on April 28, and the organization deplored the looting.[35] According to a doctor at the hospital, Arab militias ransacked the hospital after doctors couldn't provide treatment for their wounded fighters. Yousra Elbagir, in an interview, stated that UN offices evacuated foreign nationals in the city but left behind Sudanese nationals.[36] Sese refugee camp was targeted as well.

On April 27, RSF militants launched a large attack on Masalit and SAF positions in the city. Around 6am, heavy fighting broke out in al-Majlis neighborhood, and quickly spread across municipal headquarters of the city, according to the Dar Masalit Union.[37][38] These clashes continued into April 28, and fighting was fierce in all neighborhoods of the city. There was no power, and hardly any telecommunication, in Geneina after April 25.[39] Child soldiers also appeared, as civilians began picking up arms against both sides in late April. Masalit civilians were also accused of looting the police station's armory, stealing 7,000 weapons.[40] By May 1, the death toll in El Geneina had risen to over 180 civilians killed, with one doctor estimating over 191 killed.[41]The UN reported that by May 10, over 450 people had died in the fighting, and between 7,500 and 12,000 sought refuge in a SAF military base.[42]

Clashes had paused by May 2, after intervention by tribal administration leaders and South Darfur governor Hamid al-Tijani Hanoun paused fighting between the RSF and SAF in the city.[43] However, the truce did not account for tribal divisions, and was consequently shaky. Afterwards, the only hospital working in the city was Kreinik hospital, as the El Geneina Teaching Hospital was decrepit and the city's Ministry of Health was torched.[44] Almost every market, with the exception of a few smaller ones in the north of the city, were either ransacked or abandoned, causing hyperinflation on the cost of goods. Most residents sought refuge in al-Salam neighborhood, one which was not heavily affected by fighting.[45] Power in the city had been cut off since April 24.

Fighting broke out a third time on May 12, after RSF-aligned militias attacked civilian militias near Zalat Street.[46][47]The Sudanese Doctors' Syndicate stated that the death toll of the attacks was 280 killed and over 160 wounded, with that number due to rise as fighting continues.[48] On May 14, the neighborhoods of al-Buhaira, al-Thawra, al-Tadamon, al-Majlis, and al-Madares were caught in the crossfire.[49][50] In an attempt to alleviate the fighting, West Darfur governor Minni Minnawi announced the creation of a "Joint Darfur Force" composed of the rebel movements that signed the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement.[51] The Sudanese Women of Change organization, based in Darfur, called the situation in El Geneina a "Rwanda genocide scenario."[50]

By May 16, residents in El Geneina stated that the internet was only available during the day, and that power outages, food shortages, and water shortages were continuous.[52] Civilians who took up arms stated that the fighting was extremely intense, and many neighborhoods launched civilian patrols that worked 24-hours a day to combat the RSF attacks.[53] In the fighting, the city's main imam, Muhammad Abdel Aziz Omar, was killed.[54]

They're [RSF] just shooting everywhere. If you go outside, you'll be killed. You can't move, even 200 or 300 metres."

— Mohammed Ibrahim, civilian patrol, [55]