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According to rights organizations and campaigners, a number of women have committed suicide in the central Sudanese state of Gezira after being sexually assaulted by paramilitary combatants in the country's bloody civil war.
The reports follow the UN's accusation last week that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had committed "atrocious crimes" in the state, including mass murders.
One rights group informed the newsmen that it is in contact with six women who are considering suicide because they fear sexual assault as RSF militants continue to advance.
However, the RSF told the media that a recent UN study that blamed its fighters for an increase in sexual abuse "was not based on evidence" and rejected the report.
Since the war started in April 2023, the army and RSF have been engaged in a bloody power struggle that has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the forcible relocation of over 11 million people.
Cindy McCain, the chief of the UN World Food Programme, warned the BBC during a visit to Port Sudan, a hub for aid, that if a truce is not negotiated, the nation may experience the worst humanitarian disaster in history.
Millions of people could starve to death, she said.
After Abu Aqla Kayka, the chief leader of the RSF in the state recently defected to the army, there have been reports of paramilitary militants on the rampage in Gezira.
"The RSF launched a campaign of retaliation in regions that Abu Kayka controlled. The leader of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (Siha), Hala al-Karib, told the media, "They raped women and young girls, looted, and killed civilians who were resisting."
According to her, Siha, which has been recording gender-based violence in wartime Sudan, has verified three female suicides in Gezira state in the past week.
Siha was informed by the sister of a local lady who committed herself that she had been raped by RSF soldiers in front of her father and brother. Later, the two men were slain.
Over the past week, a number of films have been circulated online that purport to depict dozens of blanket-wrapped victims from a purported RSF massacre in Al Seriha.
The footage's location has been confirmed by the media Verify to be the courtyard of a mosque in Al Seriha.
Only two of the roughly 50 villages that have lately been attacked had proof of suicides, according to Ms. Karib, who also noted that the number may be higher due to sporadic cellphone connectivity.
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