El Fasher, October 06 (Darfur24)
Returnees to El Fasher, North Darfur State, said on Monday that Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intelligence had launched a widespread arrest campaign targeting civilians and tightened restrictions on movement, accusing them of collaborating with joint forces allied with the Sudanese army.
The city has witnessed an influx of displaced people from Tawila and the eastern and northern outskirts of El Fasher in recent months, many seeking to register for cash assistance programmes provided by the Norwegian Refugee Council and other organisations.
Returnees said movement into and out of the city has become increasingly difficult amid restrictions imposed by the RSF on people leaving the area.
One family told Darfur24 that it lost contact with its son, Yahya Zakaria, after he returned to El Fasher. The family later learned from one of his colleagues that RSF intelligence had arrested him about 10 days earlier on allegations of spying for the joint forces.
Amira Haroun, a displaced woman from Tawila, said her brother, Mohamed Haroun, returned to El Fasher in August to check on their home in the Baranjia neighbourhood.
She said the family lost contact with him in recent days and later received a call from a relative serving with the RSF informing them that Mohamed had been arrested the previous week at the central market on allegations of spying for the joint forces.
A source close to the RSF confirmed to Darfur24 that arrests had targeted some civilians returning to El Fasher, saying the forces had imposed movement restrictions for what they described as precautionary security reasons.
Humanitarian workers told Darfur24 that most organisations operating in displacement sites in Tawila have temporarily stopped travelling to El Fasher because of security concerns, including fears that fighting on the North Kordofan fronts could spread toward the city.
Eyewitnesses in El Fasher told Darfur24 in early September that the RSF and allied forces had continued reinforcing earthen barriers around the city while tightening restrictions on civilian movement into and out of El Fasher.