Lagawa- Sudan Now
A woman from the family of one of the abducted girls in the city of Lagawa, West Kordofan State, has issued an urgent distress appeal in a video obtained by Sudan Now newspaper, calling for swift intervention to uncover the fate of the girls, who have been missing since last Monday.
The speaker said she had arrived in Lagawa under special protection in search of the girls, noting that unconfirmed information suggested they might be in the “Al-Karkar” area. She added that one of the abducted girls was reportedly in a state of severe distress, while their exact whereabouts remain unknown.
She further stated that she had gone to the prosecutor’s office following the release of one of the suspects, urging the relevant authorities to act swiftly and locate the abducted girls amid growing anxiety and anticipation among their families.
According to preliminary information, the kidnappers are believed to be mercenaries from South Sudan who reportedly clashed in recent days with the RSF following an attempt to flee with military equipment toward South Sudan.
Sudan Now newspaper was unable to independently verify the accuracy of this information or establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident at the time of publication.
Sources reported that the mercenaries fighting alongside the RSF had previously taken control of the city of Al-Fula under directives from the RSF deputy commander, Abdel Rahim Dagalo. The sources added that they had expelled and displaced a number of Misseriya families to the city of Babanusa.
She noted that these clashes were not the first of their kind, as the city of Al-Fula had previously witnessed similar confrontations between the RSF and mercenary groups led by William Yak. The clashes were reportedly accompanied by widespread abuses against civilians, including serious assaults and the detention of women and girls inside a school in the city.
Media platforms circulated video footage released by the RSF, showing the arrest of several mercenaries following the clashes, along with the seizure of weapons, combat equipment, and four-wheel-drive vehicles, while others managed to flee toward South Sudan.
International human rights reports indicate that since the outbreak of the war, the RSF has relied on recruiting mercenaries from several countries to participate in the fighting. This has prompted the United States to impose sanctions on networks accused of recruiting foreign fighters, including individuals from Colombia.
In a previous public speech, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” acknowledged relying on Colombian fighters to operate drones and take part in combat alongside his forces. Meanwhile, circulated footage has documented the presence of foreign elements from Colombia, Chad, Libya, and South Sudan in several operational theatres previously controlled by the forces, particularly in the Darfur region.
