Reports of indiscriminate violence and ethnic targeting in El Fasher has led to growing global outrage
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces claim to have arrested several of their fighters after outrage over the extent of killing in the city of El Fasher continues to build.
But the paramilitary group’s move has been met with scepticism from human rights campaigners and the Sudanese who see it as an attempt to temper criticism over the violence.
Much of the outrage has been focused on a single individual, Abu Lulu, whom RSF media outlets showed under arrest and taken to a jail cell. Lulu, a commander in the RSF, featured in numerous videos that emerged after Sunday’s attack on El Fasher of fighters executing people in civilian clothing.
“The detention of Abu Lulu appears to be a PR stunt to deflect global anger and shift attention away from the militia’s responsibility for this massacre,” said Mohamed Suliman, a Sudanese researcher and writer based in Boston. “However, many Sudanese did not buy into this and launched a hashtag: ‘You are all Abu Lulu’ – meaning the entire militia acts like him.”
