In mid-December 2023, Sudan’s breadbasket, Al Jazira state, witnessed a chilling ultimatum: “Enlist or die.” The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful paramilitary group, swept through the region, wielding food as a weapon, withholding supplies to coerce men and boys into joining their ranks. Over three dozen witnesses attest to the RSF’s brutal tactics, which include intimidation, torture, and starvation.

The conflict in Sudan, which erupted into a civil war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) last April, has plunged the nation into chaos. Both sides stand accused of targeting civilians, with the RSF implicated in enslavement and other atrocities, particularly in Sudan’s western Darfur region.

“A campaign of terror”

CNN reports,

The militia tried to recruit 20 young men from the village, eyewitnesses, survivors and families of victims said. When the residents refused, they set up a base in the village, unleashing what the witnesses described as a campaign of terror. Homes were looted, and supermarkets and food warehouses were set on fire before the soldiers took off with over 30 stolen vehicles.

The three dozen eyewitnesses CNN spoke with from across Jazira, including survivors and the families of victims, say refusing the RSF’s ultimatum comes at the cost of food, home and safety. CNN is not naming the villages and most of the people who spoke due to fear of RSF reprisals.

Since December, nearly 700 men and 65 children have been forcibly recruited in horrifying circumstances by the RSF in Al Jazira alone. In one incident, six men were executed for refusing to join the militia.

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