Tag: paramilitaries

Africa
Zalingei

Sudan marks two years of war —and another massacre

It was tragically appropriate that the second anniversary of Sudan’s devastating civil war was marked by yet another massacre. At least 400 people were killed when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) overran the Zam Zam displacement camp in North Darfur. They also executed 10 staff members in the camp’s last remaining clinic, including medics and ambulance drivers. Eighty percent of the camp’s original 500,000 population has escaped to the nearby government-held town of el-Fasher, although the RSF is believed to be trying to stop people—especially young men—from leaving. Sudan is recognized as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in a conflict marked by both sides’ brutality and intransigence. An international conference held in London last week pledged millions of dollars in aid but made no progress on ending the war. Instead, regional powers, who hold the most sway over the military rivals (including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) disagreed on Sudan’s political future. As splits sharpen, the RSF has declared that it is forming a rival government—deepening fears of the permanent division of the country. (Map via Radio Tamazuj)

Watching the Shadows
Salvador

Trump-Bukele detention deal heads for clash with courts

The Trump administration’s deportation policies took center stage this week as Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele visited the White House, courts continued challenging the legality of the deportations, and a Maryland senator travelled to El Salvador in an attempt to make contact with a man known to have been wrongfully deported. With Trump now openly defying the federal courts—and, in fact, seeking to expand indefinite detention of deportees in El Salvador’s prison system—the long-awaited showdown between the executive and judiciary appears to have arrived. (Photo: WikiMedia via Jurist)

Africa
Sudan

Internationalization of South Sudan conflict seen

Amnesty International expressed concern over ongoing violations of international human rights law in South Sudan amid escalating violence from both internal and cross-border actors. Reports indicate mounting attacks on civilians, political repression, and increasing risk of a wider war. The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) has confirmed the deployment of special forces in South Sudan to support President Salva Kiir, citing “growing insecurity in the country.” Amnesty said Uganda may have violated the 2018 UN Security Council arms embargo by entering South Sudan with armored units. Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) also fought a two-day battle near the border in Upper Nile state against the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), the South Sudanese faction led by Vice President Riek Machar, who has now been placed under arrest. (Map via PCL)

Africa
VDP

Demand investigation into Burkina Faso massacre

Human Rights Watch has called for an urgent investigation into the massacre of dozens of civilians in Burkina Faso’s western city of Solenzo. HRW noted video footage circulating on social media that implicates pro-government militias in the killings, raising serious concerns about accountability and civilian protection in a country already grappling with widespread violence and human rights abuses. The victims, many of whom belonged to the Fulani ethnic group, were targeted in what appears to be a reprisal attack amid ongoing counterinsurgency operations. (Photo of VDP fighters: Henry Wilkins/VOA via Wikimedia Commons)

Europe
rusich

Russian paramilitary leader gets life for war crimes —in Finland

The Helsinki District Court in Finland sentenced a 38-year-old man to life for committing war crimes in Ukraine. Voislav Torden, 38, a Russian-Norwegian better known as Yan Petrovskiy, was deputy commander of a neo-Nazi paramilitary unit called Rusich, which participated in Russia’s first incursions into Ukraine in 2014. According to prosecutors, Petrovskyi was responsible for leading an attack on Ukraine’s eastern frontier in 2014, which left approximately 20 Ukrainian troops dead. Petrovskyi was accused of ordering his men to carve Rusich’s emblem into the chest of a wounded Ukrainian soldier. He was also charged for posing with a dead soldier’s body for photos, which were later uploaded to social media. (Photo of Azov Battalion fighters: Carl Ridderstråle/Wikimedia Commons)

Africa
Darfur

Sudan sues UAE for complicity in Darfur genocide

Sudan instituted proceedings against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) before the International Court of Justice, charging that the UAE has directly supported the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its associated militia in West Darfur state, violating the Genocide Convention. Sudan’s claim is based on weapons seized by the Sudanese Armed Forces in active war zones. Sudanese forces reportedly discovered several passports of Emirati nationals inside armored personnel carriers and 4×4 combat vehicles that originated in the UAE. According to Sudan, this reveals illegal military and logistical support that has allowed the RSF to commit genocidal acts in West Darfur, including the killings of civilians, and the deprivation of access to medical care and basic necessities. (Map via Radio Tamazuj)

Africa
Azawad

Jihadists and separatists to form alliance in Mali?

Talks are reported to be underway between JNIM, the main jihadist coalition in Mali, and the Tuareg-led secessionist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) over a possible alliance against the Malian army and its Russian mercenary allies. Mali’s military regime terminated a peace deal with the separatists last year after driving them out of their northern strongholds. The junta has consistently labelled secessionist groups as “terrorists'” and accused them of collusion with jihadists. Separatists deny this, though combatants from both groups share family and community ties, have allied opportunistically at times in the past, and operate in the same areas. According to France 24, current points of negotiation include JNIM softening its demands, especially regarding the application of sharia law, and breaking ties to al-Qaeda. A sticking point may be the FLA’s goal of an independent Azawad—the name they give to northern Mali. Intensified fighting in the north over the past year has had severe humanitarian consequences, driving tens of thousands of people to neighboring Mauritania. (Map of Azawad, the claimed Tuareg homeland, via Twitter)

Africa
wagner group

Wagner-trained forces commit atrocities in CAR

A UN report finds that armed groups operating in the Haut Oubangui region of the Central African Republic (CAR) have been carrying out attacks against Muslim communities and Sudanese refugees, resulting in grave human rights violations. The report, prepared jointly by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), mainly attributes these attacks to Wagner Ti Azande (WTA), a militia affiliated with the national army. The WTA received training last year from the Russian private military company Wagner Group, from whom it takes its name. (Photo of CAR troops wearing the Wagner Group insignia via Corbeau News Centrafrique)

Syria
Syria

External, internal challenges for Syrian Revolution

Apparent Assad loyalists have taken up arms against Syria’s transitional government in the Alawite heartland of Latakia on the Mediterranean coast. Fighting meanwhile continues between the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast, while Israel grabs a “security zone” in the south and continues intermittent air-strikes. Elsewhere in the south, the Druze of Suweida protest their perceived exclusion from the transition process. All this as Russia opens talks with the new authorities in a bid to keep its military bases in Syrian territory. (Map: PCL)

Africa
Mali

Mali: regime denies involvement in migrant massacre

The Malian Armed Forces command refuted accusations that soldiers were responsible for an attack in which 24 civilians, including women and children, were killed. The General Staff denied any army involvement in the massacre, which is said to have taken place in Tilemsi commune, Gao region, on the edge of the Sahara. Press reports indicated that a caravan of vehicles carrying migrants across the desert was targeted in the attack, which was carried out jointly with Russian mercenaries. (Map: PCL)

South Asia
Manipur

Amnesty: India must end Manipur violence

Amnesty International called on Indian authorities to take immediate steps to end ongoing ethnic violence and ensure human rights protections in the conflict-torn northeastern state of Manipur. The statement comes as N. Biren Singh resigned as chief minister of Manipur. Since May 2023, ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities have left over 250 dead and more than 60,000 displaced. Villages, businesses, and places of worship have been destroyed, as vigilante groups operate with impunity. The resignation of Singh follows a Supreme Court-ordered forensic inquiry into leaked audio tapes that allegedly link him to instigating ethnic violence. Amnesty emphasized that Singh’s resignation provides an opportunity for authorities to break the cycle of violence and impunity that has plagued Manipur for nearly two years. (Photo: Asia Media Centre)

Africa
Gezira

Sudan’s army advances, abuses multiply

The Sudanese army appears close to retaking the capital city Khartoum from the paramilitary-turned-rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as momentum continues to swing in its favor following nearly two years of conflict. Reports suggest the army has been advancing on multiple fronts, having broken a bruising siege on its Khartoum headquarters last month. It has also won back significant territory in other parts of central Sudan, including Gezira state. Military control, however, has come at a significant cost, with the UN reporting that soldiers and allied militia have been carrying out summary executions of civilians they accuse of being RSF collaborators. Workers in self-organized “mutual aid” groups—the backbone of the humanitarian response in Sudan—have also been targeted in the reprisals. (Map: Sudan War Monitor)