According to the UN, dozens of girls and women have been kidnapped in western Sudan, which has been facing conflict for months, and are being held in inhumane conditions. People affected in areas of Darfur controlled by the RSF militia would be forced into marriage and only released upon payment of ransom, UN Commissioner for Human Rights Elizabeth Throssell said yesterday.
Survivors put the number of those kidnapped at 20, but there could be many more, Throssell emphasized. “Some sources reported seeing women and girls chained in vans and cars,” she said.
Violence despite peace negotiations
Since mid-April, there has been a bloody struggle for power in Sudan between the troops of military ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF militia of his former deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo. More than 9,000 people have been killed since then.
Last week, the warring parties resumed peace talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but violence continues.