Khartoum — The mass graves scattered across the heart of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, containing the remains of victims who perished inside detention facilities run by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), reveal a grim and haunting chapter in the country’s bloody conflict.
The graves were discovered in central parts of Khartoum, a city that remained under RSF control for nearly two years and witnessed widespread destruction during that time. On May 21, 2025, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) announced they had fully recaptured the capital, declaring it free of RSF elements.
According to local sources, two mass graves were uncovered in the al-Riyadh neighborhood, near Obaid Khatim Street, containing the remains of thousands of people who reportedly died inside RSF prisons and were buried hastily and chaotically.
Witnesses said RSF members had used nearby buildings — including one that once served as a local RSF headquarters as makeshift detention centers. Civilians and soldiers who died under torture were allegedly transported by other detainees to the burial sites and dumped into pits dug with heavy machinery.
Around the graves, investigators found dozens of sandals, shoes, and personal belongings, grim evidence of the scale of the tragedy.
“Thousands of Victims, Unearthed Slowly”
Sudan’s Attorney General, Intisar Ahmed Abdel-Aal, said the delay in exhuming the mass graves was due to the “sheer number of victims.”
“The process of opening these graves and transferring the remains to formal cemeteries is ongoing,” she told reporters. “The number of those buried is enormous. Some bodies were found in school compounds, university campuses, and public spaces.”
Abdel-Aal noted that the work is being carried out in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has organized training sessions on handling such grave sites. She added that the government has launched the necessary legal and logistical procedures to identify and reinter the remains.
“The challenge is not lack of resources,” she explained, “but the overwhelming scale of the corpses discovered.”
She further revealed that the discovery of mass graves is not limited to Khartoum, but extends to Wad Madani and other parts of central Sudan.
Accountability Efforts Underway
Abdel-Aal, who also chairs the National Committee on War Violations and RSF Crimes, established by Sovereign Council Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on August 4, 2023, stressed that the government remains committed to recovering the bodies and prosecuting those responsible.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in brutal fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces over the integration of the paramilitary group into the national military. The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced around 13 million people, and triggered a famine described by experts as among the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
(Anadolu Agency)