KHARTOUM (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2023) The Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) accused each other of killing West Darfur State Governor Khamis Abakar on Wednesday.
The Al-Jazeera broadcaster reported earlier in the day, citing Sudanese sources, that Abakar was killed after having been arrested by the RSF following his interview accusing paramilitary fighters of killing civilians in large numbers and calling for international intervention.
"We hold the Sudanese army responsible for the assassination of the governor of West Darfur because he armed one of the two sides in the tribal conflict," Al-Jazeera quoted sources with the RSF as saying.
The Sudanese armed forces, in turn, accused the RSF of abducting and killing Abakar.
"The armed forces condemns in the strongest terms the treacherous behavior of the rebel Rapid Support Forces militia today in which it abducted and executed the governor of West Darfur Khamis Abdullah Abakar. This monstrous behavior adds a new chapter to the barbaric crimes that they have been committing on the Sudanese people who have seen their crimes as never witnessed in the country's history," Sudan's army said on social media.
The armed forces added that Abakar was one of the signatories to the Juba Peace Agreement, was appointed to the post based on the agreement and had "no relation to the conflict between the armed forces and the rebels."
Violent clashes between Sudan's regular armed forces and the RSF broke out in mid-April. According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization, 702 people have been killed, 5,687 wounded in the clashes, and over 1.6 million displaced by the continuing violence.
