Unburied bodies accumulate in Sudan's capital due to ongoing conflict

It was a funeral no one had envisaged: Sadig Abbas’ lifeless body was lowered hastily into a shallow unmarked grave in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, not long after dawn.

Even the few family members and neighbours who could attend were distracted, scouring the cemetery’s surroundings for warnings of incoming fire, recounted Awad el-Zubeer, a neighbour of the deceased.

Thankfully, none came.

For almost four months, intense and violent clashes have been occurring on the streets of Khartoum, Sudan, involving the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

This ongoing conflict has disrupted daily life to the extent that holding funerals has become extremely difficult.

The chaos has led to a distressing situation where the bodies of the deceased are left to decay on the streets of the capital city, as the conflict continues with little indication of a resolution.

“Given these circumstances, if you asked me exactly where his body was buried I couldn't tell you,” said el-Zubeer.

Data regarding the casualties in Sudan remains scarce. The health minister of the nation, Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim, stated in June that the conflict has claimed over 3,000 lives, but no further updates have been provided since then.

The true tally is likely far higher, say local doctors and activists. Likewise, no medical group has provided a toll on the number of unburied corpses, with mass graves and widespread ethnic killings being uncovered in the country's southern Darfur region.

Starving to death

Most civilians from the capital have been killed in crossfire, as the once sleepy city turned into an urban battlefield, the country’s doctor’s union says.

Others died because they were unable to access basic medicine, while some reportedly starved to death, imprisoned by the gun battles that raged outside.

During peaceful times, funerals in Sudan are elaborate, spanning days, and attended by thousands. The Sudanese tradition involves washing and blessing the deceased before family members dig graves in cemeteries for burial.

According to seven individuals who used to or currently live in the capital region, the ongoing dispute between the country's two leading figures, army head Gen. Abdel Fattah al Burhan and RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has disrupted this customary practice.

Three individuals who shared their views opted to remain anonymous due to concerns about potential retaliation.

Several said reaching any of the capital's roughly two dozen cemeteries has proved impossible when they were trying to bury family members, friends, or those with whom they were trapped.

Caught in Khartoum University

Over 100 university students were caught in Khartoum University when the conflict broke out on April 15.

Khaled, a student, was shot in the chest by a stray bullet, dying shortly after being hit, a fellow student said.

“We dragged his dead body to the lower levels (of a building) to stop it rotting," he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted.

He and others then wrapped Khaled’s remains in a makeshift Islamic burial cloth and buried him in the university grounds beneath a tree after gaining approval from his family.

Gasin Amin Oshi, a resident from the Beit al-Mal area in Omdurman, located just across the Nile River from Khartoum, said a neighbouring family was prevented from burying a loved one in a nearby graveyard by RSF troops.

Instead, they buried the woman, who died of natural causes, on the grounds of a school.

Most of the residents said RSF troops, who control vast swaths of the city, often cause disruption. In the first days of the conflict, the army bombed RSF camps in the capital, prompting homeless RSF fighters to commandeer civilian homes and turn them into bases.

The army, in turn, struck residential areas from the air and with artillery. Over 2.15 million people have since fled Khartoum state according to UN data.

El-Zubeer said Abbas, his neighbour, was shot and killed after RSF fighters raided his home and discovered that one of his brothers was an army officer and the other an intelligence officer.

After Abbas’ body was transferred to a hospital, he said the RSF initially prevented the burial without giving any reason but eventually conceded to the family's pleading.

Most people were either too afraid to attend the June 30 funeral or were unaware of it, el-Zubeer said.

The country has been beset by power outages and internet blackouts since the conflict erupted.

‘’Mobile phones are as useful in connecting as a pack of cigarettes,” el-Zubeer said.

The RSF’s chief spokesman, Youssef Izzat, said that the leadership had not given orders to prevent civilian burials.

If any were stopped it was only because there was heavy fighting nearby, he said. In contrast, locals portrayed the paramilitary as often unruly, driven by boredom and entertainment, though instances of benevolence were also acknowledged.

Thousands remain unburied

One resident of south Khartoum shared that despite previously engaging in theft within an uncle's community, a group of RSF fighters unexpectedly stepped forward to provide transportation and burial arrangements when the uncle passed away from natural causes in July.

Since June, Sudan’s Red Crescent has been collecting and burying corpses across the capital. Taking advantage of brief lulls in the fighting, the organisation said that it has recovered and buried at least 102 bodies, mostly unidentified combatants from both sides.

The collected corpses were photographed and issued an identity number, a Red Crescent worker said. But with many battle-stricken districts inaccessible, potentially thousands remain unburied in the capital, said the international aid group Save the Children.

Last month, a community group from the capital’s northern district of Bahri called on medical groups to collect the corpses of about 500 RSF fighters decomposing on the roads.

In south Khartoum, at least 26 bodies were counted, mostly civilians and RSF fighters, lying on the streets in recent weeks.

Unidentified corpses are typically transferred to morgues, but the conflict has led to the abandonment of at least four facilities in the capital area.