Residents of Sudan’s Tuti island at the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile have emerged from paramilitary control to speak of hardships suffered and relief that their oppressors have been driven away.
They say Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, who have been forced by the army off the island between the capital Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman, would block people from medical treatment, jail others and extort inhabitants.
“I suffered from severe urinary retention,” recalled elderly islander Omar al-Hassan, saying an RSF member stopped him from crossing a bridge to see doctors.
“He claimed our papers were incomplete, but we had all the necessary documents. He just wanted money.”
The RSF, whose war with the army erupted in April 2023 and which still controls swathes of west Sudan, did not respond to a request for comment by Reuters. The RSF has either denied it violates human rights or
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