A serious investigation uncovered by CNN about the rapid support militia

The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have “forced citizens including children in Al Jazeera state to fight against the military” since entering the state in mid-December.

The network quoted more than 30 witnesses as saying that the RSF “used food as a weapon and withheld supplies from the hungry in an attempt to force men and boys to join their ranks”.

The war broke out in the Sudan on April 15, 2023, between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the United Nations said that some 25 million people, half of the Sudan’s population, needed assistance and some 8 million had fled their homes.

“Hunger and forced recruitment”

According to the CNN investigation, “RSF has forcibly recruited approximately 700 men and 65 children over the past three months in the island’s state alone, explaining that” many victims have been identified by witnesses, survivors and family members “.

CNN verified the victims’ names by the population in their areas, sought details of what had happened in each case and pointed out that the fighting had caused a problem in communications networks and difficulty in accessing the media, making such attempts extremely difficult.

The US network confirmed that it could independently verify the identities of all 750 people “arrested by RSF groups on the island.”

Witnesses were also quoted as saying that “at least 600 persons, including 50 boys under the age of 18, have joined the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) east of Island State, often motivated by hunger”, while 150 others, including 15 boys, have been forcibly recruited in the west of the state “.

CNN explained that many of these men “worked as farmers or traders.”