JABAR EKSPRES – Sudan’s West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdallah Abkar was assassinated shortly after he blamed the paramilitary group Rapid Support Force (RSF) for violence in the country.
Video shared online shows a group of armed men grabbing Abkar. Other footage showed the governor lying on the ground with wounds to the neck and face.
Abkar’s death came moments after he in an interview blamed the RSF for a wave of killings and looting in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.
In a statement, the Sudanese army accused the RSF of kidnapping and killing the governor.
“This horrific behavior adds a new chapter to the barbaric crimes they (RSF) are committing against Sudanese citizens who are experiencing crimes that have never happened in the history of this country,” the Sudanese military said.
The Sudanese army said the slain governor had nothing to do with the current conflict between the Sudanese military and the RSF.
So far there has been no statement from the paramilitary group regarding the allegations.
The Justice and Equality Movement group condemned the governor’s killing as a “serious development.”
The killing was “an extension of the horrific violations committed in Geneina town,” the movement said in a statement.
The Sudan Liberation Army Movement also denounced the killing as a “despicable crime that does not reflect the values and morals of Sudanese society” and called for an investigation into the death of the West Darfur governor.
Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in Geneina amid a wave of looting in recent weeks.
The UN on Wednesday said the escalating attacks in Darfur could amount to “crimes against humanity”.
Sudan has been ravaged by fighting between the army and the RSF since mid-April. Nearly 1,000 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in the violence, according to local medics.
