Beirut, Lebanon – Sudan’s army is pushing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to retreat from Khartoum, sparking hope among many in the capital for renewed stability.
However, local relief workers said they fear they will be targeted in a wave of reprisals.
“Every time the army recaptures an area, … they start to target civilians and the humanitarian volunteers. This is why we are all so frightened,” said *Ahmed, a local relief volunteer in Sharq el-Nile, an area in Khartoum that the army is threatening to recapture.
A war on local relief workers
Local volunteers like Ahmed are members of Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), grassroots networks that have led the humanitarian response since Sudan erupted into war in April 2023.
ERRs provide multiple services, such as supporting soup kitchens, safe spaces for women and children, and basic healthcare for the sick and wounded.
Most rely on donations from the Sudanese diaspora and funding from international NGOs and United Nations agencies.
Despite their vital humanitarian role, ERR workers face arrests, kidnappings and extrajudicial killings from both sides in the conflict.
On top of that, at least 112 ERR members have been killed since the start of the war, according to an ERR spokesperson. The actual toll could be higher amid fears that reporting attacks could bring violent retaliation.
As the army advances in Khartoum, many ERR members fear for their lives and are calling for protection.
“We have been thinking about how we get some kind of protection [for ERR members], and we need the international community to push and advocate for us,” said Mokhtar Atif, the spokesperson for ERR volunteers in Khartoum North.
According to volunteers, analysts and international aid workers, the army often treats any person carrying out humanitarian activities in RSF areas as a traitor.
“Many volunteers are refusing to evacuate [from Khartoum] because there are badly needed UN [aid] convoys that should be coming in the next few days [and the ERR members need to distribute the aid to hungry civilians],” said Hajooj Kuka, spokesperson for the Khartoum ERRs coordination committee.
“Many of these volunteers have made peace with the fact that they will be killed [by the army] and some have already sent messages [to us and their friends] saying their goodbyes,” he told media.
Surveillance and killings
media sent written questions to army spokesperson Nabil Abdullah, asking him to respond to the accusations that the army and aligned militias are targeting local activists and civilians as they recapture Khartoum.
He did not respond before publication.
However, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement that it is aware of at least 18 people killed in seven incidents by army-affiliated fighters in Khartoum North on January 25.
media is unable to confirm if any of those killed were ERR members.
The UN human rights office is also trying to verify footage that shows fighters from the Baraa bin Malik Brigade, a militia that supports the army, reading out a long list of names and saying “zaili” – Arabic for “killed” – after each name.
“The army has its own spies that monitor civilians interacting with the RSF,” speculated one ERR member in Khartoum who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Kuka gave another reason why he believes the army uses spies to monitor relief workers.
He said one of his ERR members was arrested a month ago after crossing from an RSF area in Khartoum to a nearby town controlled by the army.
The member was tortured – Kuka did not disclose how – and accused of collaborating with the RSF due to working in a medical centre that was providing care to the wounded and sick.
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