Bodies pulled out of well point to killings in areas recaptured from Sudan fighters

Record ID: 1984027

  • Title: Bodies pulled out of well point to killings in areas recaptured from Sudan fighters
  • Date: 17th March 2025
  • Summary: SHARG ELNIL, BAHRI, SUDAN (MARCH 16, 2025) (REUTERS) SUDANESE RED CRESCENT MEMBERS INSPECTING A WELL IN SHARG ELNIL FOLLOWING REPORTS OF BODIES INSIDE WELL FROM WHERE BODIES HAVE BEEN RECOVERED VARIOUS OF RED CRESCENT MEMBERS WEARING HAZMAT SUITS AND MASKS STANDING ON AN OPEN TRUCK NEXT TO RECOVERED BODIES WRAPPED IN BLACK PLASTIC BAGS / SUDANESE ARMY PERSONNEL AND CIVIL D
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Bodies RSF Sudan Sudanese army War
  • Location: SHARG ELNIL, BAHRI, SUDAN
  • City: SHARG ELNIL, BAHRI, SUDAN
  • Country: Sudan
  • Topics: Africa,Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA001934417032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:In a part of Sudan recaptured by the army just weeks ago after nearly two years under the control of paramilitary fighters, Red Crescent volunteers in hazmat suits and masks pulled bodies out of a well on Sunday (March 16) and put them in black bags as residents looked on.
    Most of the 15 victims had been shot in the head, but some had injuries suggesting they were thrown in the well alive, said Hisham Zain al-Abdin, director of forensic medicine for Khartoum state.
    Other bodies have been found scattered on roadsides or hidden in basements of the district, known as Sharg Elnil. Some of the victims were tied up, said Zain al-Abdin.
    "A lot of things happened here, and horrific scenes," he said.
    Nearly two years into Sudan's Civil War, government forces have been advancing into territory long held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which broke with the military authorities in April 2023.
    The authorities say they are finding widespread evidence of killings in areas formerly under RSF control.
    The RSF did not respond to a request for comment. In the past it has denied accusations of widespread abuses in areas it has controlled and said individual perpetrators would be brought to account. It has also accused the army of carrying out its own abuses, which the army also denies.
    Hussein al-Faki, one of the residents who reported the bodies in the well to the authorities, said locals had tried to bury the victims, but the armed men controlling the area during RSF occupation "warned us not to go near them."
    "If you got closer, they would shoot you. They scared us, so we ran away and left them," he said.
    (Production: El Tayeb Siddig, Dina Sakr)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register