Brussels, February 25(Darfur24)
Human Rights Watch( HRW) confirmed today, Tuesday, that the Sudan Shield forces allied with the Sudanese army committed war crimes, including killing civilians, burning their homes, and looting their property in Al-Gazeera State.
The international human rights organization said in a report published today, Tuesday, that “under the principle of command responsibility, military commanders may be responsible for war crimes committed by members of the armed forces, or other fighters under their control.”
It confirmed that the Sudan Shield Forces, led by Abu Agla Kikil, deliberately targeted civilians in an attack launched on January 10, 2025, on the village of “Kambo Taiba” in Al-gazeera State, which resulted in the killing of at least 26 people, including a child, and wounding others. The group also systematically looted civilian property, including food supplies, and burned homes.
These acts constitute war crimes, and some of them, such as the deliberate killing of civilians, may also constitute possible crimes against humanity, according to the report.
Witnesses and Evidence
The report confirmed that Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed eight survivors of the attack on Camp Taiba who also witnessed key incidents surrounding the attack, and researchers analyzed satellite imagery, photographs, and videos shared by survivors that showed the bodies of some of the dead, damage from fires caused by the attackers, graves of victims, and a list of 13 dead.
The report added that “on the morning of January 10, dozens of Sudan Shield fighters, described by residents as Arabs, entered Camp Taiba in Toyota Land Cruisers equipped with heavy machine guns.”
Eyewitnesses said they shot men and boys indiscriminately and set fire to buildings, then returned and attacked the village again in the afternoon while residents were burying the victims, moving from house to house searching for men and boys, and resumed the killing, looting and burning, the report said.
A 60-year-old man said gunmen wearing green camouflage uniforms and driving Toyota Land Cruisers attacked him at close range. “They said, ‘Stop!’ and then shot me near my kidney with a Kalashnikov rifle,” he said.
A man who witnessed the incident said he heard the attackers shout racist words such as “ya abd” (an Arabic word for slave) during the shooting.
A woman was quoted as saying in the report: “They came to the house we were in and asked where all our husbands were. They started threatening everyone that they would harm us and our husbands. They said, ‘Don’t you know who Kikil’s soldiers are? Don’t you know who we are?’” referring to Abu Agla Kikil, the commander of the Sudan Shield Forces.
Kikil formed the Sudan Shield Forces in 2022, recruiting mainly from Arab communities in Al-gazeera State. The group fought alongside the Sudanese army from April 2023 to August 2023, but then defected to the Rapid Support Forces, then rejoined the army in October 2024.
Break of Violence
As the Sudanese army has retaken Al-gazeera State and other parts of Sudan since January, civilians have borne the brunt of retaliatory violence, from groups allied with the army, who accuse them of collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces when the latter controlled the areas.
Witnesses said military vehicles bore the words “Sudan Shield” and a logo resembling the Sudan Shield logo.
Witnesses reported widespread looting of money, food, and livestock, including 2,000 head of cattle, and all witnesses said that villagers were unarmed and unable to resist, and did not resist, the January 10 attack.
Torture and Killing
The report said that videos received and verified by Human Rights Watch support the account of the attack on Camp Taiba and contain evidence of crimes committed elsewhere in Gezira state at the same time.
The videos, which were geolocated in Wad Madani and appeared on social media, show fighters linked to the Sudanese Armed Forces committing acts of torture and extrajudicial killing of unarmed individuals, according to the report.
Reports of the killing of South Sudanese citizens by forces allied with the Sudanese army in Wad Madani sparked retaliatory violence against Sudanese civilians in South Sudan, leading to a diplomatic crisis between Sudan and South Sudan.
The international organization said that the killing and maiming of civilians and the looting and deliberate targeting and destruction of civilian property are war crimes.
Witnesses said that vehicles from the “Joint Force of Armed Struggle Movements,” a military coalition of largely Darfuri armed groups, were deployed to Camp Taiba to protect the population. But Sudanese military generals, including Lt. Gen. Yasser al-Atta of the ruling Sovereignty Council, have since appeared publicly with Kikil and praised his contribution to the war effort, the report said.
The Sudanese military should investigate the attack on Camp Taiba and other abuses by armed groups and militias affiliated with it, publish the results of its investigations, and take steps to hold all those responsible, including commanders, accountable, Human Rights Watch said.
“The Sudanese military should suspend Kikil and other key Sudan Shield commanders pending the results of the investigation,” it added.
Clear Evidence
“There is clear evidence that forces allied with the Sudanese military are responsible for horrific killings and atrocities against civilians,” said Jean-Baptiste Gallopin, senior crisis, conflict, and arms researcher at Human Rights Watch. “International actors, including the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, should actively support robust initiatives to protect civilians in Sudan and swiftly impose targeted sanctions against those responsible, including Abu Agla Kikil.”
The January 10 attack was part of a bloody escalation in attacks by groups and militias allied with the Sudanese military on communities in Al-gazeera and other areas retaken by the military from the Rapid Support Forces since January 2025, the report said.