{"id":3582,"date":"2025-12-08T13:32:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T13:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jubaglobal.com\/?p=3582"},"modified":"2025-12-08T13:32:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T13:32:28","slug":"tit-for-tat-in-the-skies-and-on-the-airwaves-rsf-rejects-rape-allegations-accuses-saf-of-deliberately-bombing-civilians-and-aid-lifelines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/directtopic.com\/jubaglobal.com\/tit-for-tat-in-the-skies-and-on-the-airwaves-rsf-rejects-rape-allegations-accuses-saf-of-deliberately-bombing-civilians-and-aid-lifelines\/","title":{"rendered":"Tit-for-Tat in the Skies and on the Airwaves: RSF Rejects Rape Allegations, Accuses SAF of Deliberately Bombing Civilians and Aid Lifelines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By: Juba Global News Network<\/strong>
Published: December 8, 2025<\/strong>
Author: Michael Lokuju, Defence and Security Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

KHARTOUM\/PORT SUDAN \u2013 As the humanitarian disaster in Sudan keeps getting worse, both sides in the conflict have ramped up their messaging battles over the last two days. Each has issued sharply worded statements, laying bare their strategies to sway both domestic and international audiences. In a series of deliberately staged video and written communiqu\u00e9s, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) flatly rejected accusations of widespread sexual violence against women fleeing El Fasher. At the same time, the group hurled back its own charges, accusing the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) of intentionally targeting civilians and sabotaging humanitarian supply lines. This latest exchange marks probably the most aggressive PR push by the RSF since El Fasher fell back in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RSF Denial: “A Fabricated Campaign Coordinated by Zionist Intelligence”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday night, the RSF\u2019s Political and Media Bureau put out a four-page rebuttal in English, titled “The Truth About El Fasher and the Propaganda War Against the Sudanese People.” The document dismissed all rape allegations as “entirely fabricated,” describing them as a part of a calculated disinformation drive supposedly engineered by “remnants of the former Islamist regime, Zionist intelligence services, and certain Western media outlets.” The statement didn\u2019t stop there\u2014it went on to claim that “mercenaries wearing RSF uniforms” (clearly hinting at old regime-linked militias) had been sent into North Darfur to commit atrocities with the goal of smearing the RSF. The group invited the United Nations, African Union, and independent journalists to carry out “transparent investigations under RSF protection” in all areas they control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was also a 12-minute video released alongside the statement, featuring RSF commander Major-General Abdul Rahman Juma Barqu in North Darfur. He stood before what he claimed were freshly constructed women\u2019s clinics in El Fasher. \u201cThese are the actions of the Rapid Support Forces\u2014building, not destroying,\u201d he said. Independent experts have pointed out that while the RSF often denies these types of accusations, this particular response was unusually polished, both in tone and production, hinting perhaps at more external consulting than before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Counter-Accusation: SAF Deliberately Bombs the Adre Border Crossing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Only a few hours after knocking back the rape allegations, the RSF released drone footage it said showed Sudanese Air Force Antonov An-26 and MiG-29 planes conducting repeated airstrikes on the Adre crossing at the Chad-Sudan border on December 6 and 7. Since August 2023, Adre has been the primary route for humanitarian aid into RSF-held Darfur\u2014the UN estimates over 60 percent of aid for the region comes through there. The RSF video depicts several heavy explosions near customs storage and a line of World Food Programme trucks, clearly marked. Though the authenticity of the footage hasn\u2019t been independently pinned down yet, aid workers in eastern Chad told Juba Global News Network that three strikes landed within 800 meters of the border on Friday night, leading to a temporary halt in all aid operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, RSF advisor Youssef Ezra accused the SAF of “deliberately trying to starve the people of Darfur as payback for rejecting military rule.” He warned that if humanitarian corridors keep getting bombed, it would amount to “a declaration of genocide” and promised the RSF would \u201crespond proportionally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wider Information Battlefield<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This back-and-forth of denials and accusations just fits into a broader trend that\u2019s gotten more pronounced in recent months: both sides now run slick media war rooms, able to respond almost instantly. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • The SAF\u2019s Sovereignty Council in Port Sudan runs its own Telegram channels and regularly shares high-res satellite images that supposedly show RSF war crimes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Meanwhile, the RSF has seriously ramped up its English-language efforts, hiring native-speaking narrators and spreading material through what look like independent “Sudan analysts” on X and YouTube.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Military observers figure this stepped-up propaganda battle is closely tied to developments on the ground. With the RSF now holding the Heglig oil fields and a big chunk of Darfur and Kordofan, they’re angling to present themselves as a legitimate alternative government. The SAF, for its part, is trying to frame any negotiation with the RSF as equivalent to condoning war crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    International Community Caught in the Crossfire<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Western diplomats, behind closed doors, admit it’s nearly impossible to verify the competing stories, especially when both sides regularly block outside investigators. A senior UN official, speaking off the record to Juba Global News Network, said, “We’re seeing a rerun of what happened in Geneina in 2023: atrocities, total denial, finger-pointing, and closed doors to investigators. The only real difference now is that both sides have gotten way better at using information as a weapon to stall or dodge accountability.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The United States\u2014which has already labeled the RSF\u2019s Darfur campaign as meeting the criteria for genocide\u2014put out a cautious statement on Sunday condemning “all violations of international humanitarian law by all parties.” It stopped short of naming names or referencing the newest claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A Propaganda War with Real Casualties<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    And, while this battle of words drags on, it\u2019s civilians who keep paying the price. Humanitarian agencies report that the temporary shutdown of the Adre crossing has already held up more than 400 trucks packed with food, medicine, and shelter supplies bound for El Fasher and Nyala. In al-Dabba, doctors treating sexual violence survivors voiced anger at the RSF\u2019s dismissal of their medical evidence. “These women have undergone forensic exams,” said Dr. Niemat Abdullah Koko. “The injuries speak for themselves. We document what\u2019s in front of us, no matter who tries to deny it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As Sudan\u2019s civil war creeps up on its 1,000th day, the struggle to control the narrative has, in some ways, grown as fierce as the fighting itself. But for the millions of people trapped between the two forces, the line between propaganda and cold reality probably blurred away long ago. Juba Global News Network will keep trying to verify claims from all sides and promises to publish updates based on what evidence can be confirmed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By: Juba Global News NetworkPublished: December 8, 2025Author: Michael Lokuju, Defence and Security Editor KHARTOUM\/PORT…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[786,830,643,1,843],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-breaking-news","category-more-articles","category-news","category-sudan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/directtopic.com\/jubaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/directtopic.com\/jubaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/directtopic.com\/jubaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/directtopic.com\/jubaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/directtopic.com\/jubaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/directtopic.com\/jubaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3584,"href":"https:\/\/directtopic.com\/jubaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3582\/revisions\/3584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/directtopic.com\/jubaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/directtopic.com\/jubaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/directtopic.com\/jubaglobal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}