“The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have looted everything: cars, trucks and tractors,” complains a resident of a village in the state of Aljazira anonymously, fearing reprisals from paramilitaries who are in full march into war-torn South Sudan .

The villagers of Aljazira hold their breath every time they hear the sound of a car or motorcycle, fearing that the fearsome RSF paramilitaries are on board.

“On Saturday, seven persons armed with machine guns and dressed in an RSF uniform knocked on my door,” Abdine, who did not want to reveal his surname for security reasons, told AFP.

They asked questions about the car parked in his garage before “pointing their weapons at us,” complains this resident of Hasaheisa, a village 50 kilometers north of Aljazira’s capital, Wad Madani.

The bloody eight-month war waged by the Sudanese army in Khartoum against RSF paramilitaries has forced about half a million people to seek refuge further south, in this agricultural state that until recently was spared from violence. But recently the paramilitaries, who control most of the capital, have advanced along the road connecting the capital to Wad Madani, capturing village after village and terrorizing residents.

On December 15, they attacked Wad Madani, forcing more than 300,000 people to flee again, to the interior of Aljazira state, but also to neighboring states Sennar and Gedaref, the UN said. Since then, the paramilitaries have continued their brutal descent south.

On Saturday they were seen “15 kilometers north of Sennar”, 140 kilometers south of Wad Madani, witnesses told AFP. “Army aircraft bombed Rapid Support Forces positions north of the village, causing panic among residents,” other witnesses reported.

Markets looted

Since the surprising start of the conflict on April 15, the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has mainly used its air advantage: it is the only army with combat aircraft. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s RSF, on the other hand, favors mobile troops, sitting in pick-up trucks. Wherever they go, fear among women and young girls of being targeted by “sexual violence, a recurring threat” in Sudan is increasing, says NGO Save the Children.

At Hasaheisa market, stall doors are open and merchandise that was of no interest to the looters is scattered on the ground, an AFP journalist saw. “Did the RSF come to fight us, the civilians, or the army?” asks Omar Hussein, 42, after the shops and vehicles belonging to his family were looted or destroyed.

At another market, Tamboul, halfway between Khartoum and Wad Madani, paramilitaries arrived and shot indiscriminately, witnesses said.

“All rooms searched”

According to the United Nations, the conflict claimed 12,000 lives, a number that is certainly underestimated as entire parts of the country are isolated from the world. It has also displaced 7.1 million people, 1.5 million of whom have fled to neighboring countries, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said last week, calling “the most significant displacement crisis in the world” described.

The United Nations Security Council expressed “concern” on Friday about the intensification of violence in Sudan, “strongly condemning” attacks on civilians and the expansion of the conflict “into areas hosting significant populations of displaced persons.”

Rabah, who also wanted to hide the family’s name, said that when the paramilitaries “shot in front of the house before entering, we all panicked”. “They only left after searching all the rooms,” she told AFP.

Al-Tayeb, who lives in a village near Hasaheisa, was surprised when the paramilitaries asked him “a strange question: they wanted to know how I got the money to build my house, which I inherited from my father and which was built in 35 years. years”. An answer that makes little difference to the fighters in any case.

On Saturday, eight people were killed by the RSF in Artadhwa village for opposing looting, witnesses said.