The Wad al-Noura Massacre… Will it Accelerate the Classification of the RSF as a Terrorist Organisation?

Gadaref – almohagig – Talal Ismail

In the wake of the new massacre in “Wad al-Noura” in Gezira State, central Sudan, committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against unarmed civilians, voices from political forces and social components in the country have risen, urging the international community to awaken its humanitarian conscience and take action to hold the criminal militia accountable.
The militia attacked the villages of “Wad al-Noura” and “Al-Jantara” in the Qurashi locality near the city of Managil in Gezira State on Wednesday morning with more than 20 combat vehicles, forcing citizens to try to repel the attack with firearms and melee weapons.
Estimates of the number of martyrs in the massacre vary, as the militia used artillery to shell the village in addition to heavy gunfire, resulting in the death of over 200 martyrs, according to consistent reports.
Video clips documented scenes of a mass grave in the village, where residents gathered to bury the bodies.
This attack was not the first; the militia attacked the village of “Wad al-Noura” in mid-April last year, killing three citizens and looting several shops in the main market before leaving the area.
The Transitional Sovereignty Council Calls on the International Community
The Transitional Sovereignty Council issued a statement saying: “In a heinous crime that shames humanity, the terrorist RSF militia committed a horrific massacre against unarmed civilians in the village of Wad al-Noura in Gezira State, claiming the lives of many innocent citizens. This heinous crime adds to the series of crimes committed by this rebellious militia in many states of Sudan.”
The statement continued: “These criminal acts reflect the systematic behaviour of these militias in targeting civilians, looting their property, and forcibly displacing them from their areas.”
The statement called on the international community and human rights organisations to condemn and denounce these crimes and hold the perpetrators from the terrorist RSF militia accountable, under the principle of no impunity.
Wad al-Noura is located at the end of the Gezira Project and the beginning of the White Nile State borders, about 40 kilometres southeast of the city of Al-Qutaynah, and it has commercial links with the state of Khartoum.
Minawi: What is the World Waiting For?
The Governor of Darfur Region, Minni Arko Minawi, condemned the “Wad al-Noura” massacre and said on his “X” platform account that the RSF militia committed a massacre and exterminated the village of Wad al-Noura, with the number of victims exceeding 150 people, including children, women, and the elderly. He added, “What is the world waiting for from these militias, and what do the supporting countries hope for, and why is the United Nations silent in the face of these crimes committed by countries that are members of its entity?”
Boycotting the Militia
Al-Sadiq Ali al-Nour, the official spokesperson for the Sudan Liberation Army Movement, said: “The movement strongly condemns the horrific crime committed by the RSF militias against the village of Wad al-Noura in Gezira State by targeting innocent civilians in their homes with heavy weapons deliberately, killing more than 100 citizens, most of them women, children, and the elderly. This is considered the largest crime of genocide and ethnic cleansing against innocent civilians.”
He continued: “The movement holds the RSF militias and the political forces supporting them, which have become the political incubator for these militias, criminally responsible.”
He added: “The movement calls on all countries, international bodies, and institutions to boycott these rebellious militias, besiege them internationally and regionally, and classify them as a terrorist organisation because these militias have become a threat to international peace and security.”
He appealed to the free countries of the world and international human rights and humanitarian organisations to play their role in condemning the crimes committed against humanity and activating international humanitarian law to protect civilians and ensure that all perpetrators of these crimes are brought to international courts for fair punishment.
The Popular Congress Party, led by Secretary-General Amin Mahmoud, stated: “We are experiencing difficult days in Sudan, where the calamity grows day by day in an unprecedented way except for in Gaza.”
The party stated that “the war in Sudan has been directed from its first day to terrorise a helpless unarmed people with monstrous intimidation tactics aimed at magnifying the cost of war, so the people rise up against those who defend them, both the army and the leadership.”
The party added that the horrific massacre in the village of Wad al-Noura, with its images of martyrs, and the continuous indiscriminate shelling with heavy artillery in the city of Al-Fashir and the neighbourhoods of the capital, Khartoum, are all part of a strategy to terrorise the people to break their will to resist and force them into humiliating surrender.
The party concluded: “But the enemies of our people are ignorant of our nature and the sources of our revolution, for we are a people stirred by our faith, the source of our pride.”
The Popular Congress Party issued a call for mobilisation to defend the oppressed who are being exterminated in silence by the world. According to the statement, it urged citizens to defy “collusion and silence by supporting your army and the brave popular resistance with your lives and wealth.”
The Sudanese Revolutionary Front, led by Mohamed Sid Ahmed Al-Jakoumi and members of the Presidential Council, strongly condemned the massacre committed against unarmed and innocent Sudanese citizens in the village of Wad al-Noura and the administrative unit of Al-Azazi in Managil locality, Gezira State, by the RSF militias, resulting in dozens of martyrs and injured, according to a statement received by the investigator.
Abdelwahab Jamil, the official spokesperson for the front, said: “This brutal act and barbaric behaviour confirm the intentions and objectives of the militias that their war is against the Sudanese people, not against the army and remnants as they claim in their false media.”
He continued: “The village of Wad al-Noura is not a camp for the Sudanese army, and no armed forces are present there. What happened is a human massacre and a complete genocide crime.”
He called on the international community and all people of conscience in the world and all human rights organisations to condemn the actions and practices of the RSF militias against the nation and the citizens, demanding that these militias be classified as a terrorist organization and that their leaders and members be brought to trial in the International Criminal Court.
The National Umma Party held the RSF militia fully responsible for the “horrific massacre” committed by their forces in the village of “Wad al-Noura” in Gezira State.
Condemnation statements continued from Sudanese political forces. The Future Movement for Reform and Development said: “The Sudanese people, since the beginning of the fierce aggression by the RSF militia, have been a symbol of patience and sacrifice in the face of killing and death policies imposed by this militia, driven by the agendas of external plots funded by weapons or plans to tear Sudan apart.”
The movement continued: “The RSF militia did not suffice with displacing citizens from Khartoum State, burning neighbourhoods in Geneina, besieging unarmed civilians in Umm Rawaba, killing, and stealing food in Dalang, and other crimes, but continued its crimes by attacking Gezira State. The RSF militia has committed massacres in Gezira State, resulting in the death of more than 4,500 unarmed citizens, attacking over 400 safe villages, and destroying about 900 health units.”
The movement confirmed that the militia continues its heinous crimes, having stormed the village of “Wad al-Noura,” killing more than 200 citizens in a massacre close to retaliatory campaigns we have not seen except in colonial campaigns.