Sudan: Mass graves in West Darfur’s capital haunt remaining residents

Published

2 years ago

August 17, 2023

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Once the thriving capital of West Darfur, al Geneina is now nearly deserted.

Humanitarian volunteers told Sky News around 70% of the city’s half-a-million residents have fled since the start of the war in Sudan and that the bodies littering the streets are now buried at multiple mass grave sites after a huge clean-up operation.

The coordinates of potential mass grave sites on the outskirts of al Geneina shared by C4ADS, a Washington DC-based global security non-profit, have been verified by Sky News through various eyewitness accounts.

A satellite image from May shows regular mountainous terrain just north of the main artery connecting al Geneina to eastern Chad.

On 6 July, the same three areas are now visibly water-filled due to seasonal rainfall.

An eyewitness independently located this site for Sky News using landmarks on the map and says he watched as decomposing bodies were dumped into a body of water at the end of June.

“It was the start of the rainy season and they had disconnected the network so we had to go to the edges of the city to try and make calls,” he said.

The pitch of his voice climbed with urgency as he described the scene.

“After the police station and over the mountain – around 250 metres from a cattle slaughterhouse – I saw a group of scared residents throwing nine bodies into a large pond.”

Read more: Why did violence erupt in Sudan?

‘I lost 14 brothers and sisters’

One volunteer independently verified the location of this grave site and says he was present as 50 bodies were dumped there.

The next day, he was involved in the transportation of another 45 bodies.

“Our group was not happy with how the dead were being treated so we opted out of the burial. We helped with transporting the corpses but did not join for the dumping,” he says.

He identified the victims as being from the African Massalit and Burgo tribes and says that volunteers could not film or even make a call around the site.

“One guy we know was suspected of leaking information and was beaten until his leg broke.”

From the Burgo tribe himself, his own family has suffered from the extreme ethnic violence that ravaged al Geneina.

He says 14 of his brothers and sisters have been killed in al Geneina since the start of the war in April – many of them remained unburied for weeks after their deaths.

One of his sisters, a teenager, was shot in the head and killed in their home – a horrific incident corroborated by a humanitarian worker also in the city at the time.

“I buried my sister 54 days after she was killed. My mother was wounded at the same time and could not leave the house for a long time. She still hasn’t received any medical assistance,” said the volunteer, who is being kept anonymous for his safety.

He and his family are some of the remaining non-Arab residents in al Geneina.

His elderly father and wounded mother make leaving difficult and relocation funds are low after their savings were looted from their home amid the chaos.

The little income he gets from transporting bodies has helped him facilitate the burial of his family members.

‘Assassination attempts’ on volunteers trying to help

A humanitarian worker who has a long history of advocacy work in al Geneina believes that the city has been ethnically cleansed.

“The janjaweed militias practised forced displacement by burning homes and shelters for the displaced in a brutal and racist manner – killing civilians – which is considered a crime of genocide,” he said.

He added the campaign to tidy up the city’s emptied streets is led by Arab tribesmen and is an attempt to clean up the image of the Rapid Support Forces and their aligned militias who have been caught filling up mass graves.

“The Rapid Support Forces, along with Arab militias, participated by providing digging mechanisms such as bulldozers and trucks – in addition to designating burial areas. Sometimes they even participated with volunteers,” the source says.

Another mass grave site is reported on the northern outskirts of the city, along Tendelti road – a border town which was razed to the ground in May.

And even in this moment of relative calm in al Geneina, those told to bury the evidence of violence are facing violence themselves.

“There have been some assassination attempts in al Geneina these days of some of the volunteers who participated in the preparation and burial of bodies in the mass graves,” he says.

“The latest of which is the attempted assassination of the manager of the Sudanese Red Crescent in West Darfur, who was shot with live bullets and is now under medical care in Chad.”

World

Benjamin Netanyahu to meet Donald Trump next week amid calls for Gaza ceasefire

Published

6 hours ago

July 1, 2025

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Benjamin Netanyahu to meet Donald Trump next week amid calls for Gaza ceasefire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting Donald Trump next Monday, according to US officials.

The visit on 7 July comes after Mr Trump suggested it was possible a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week.

On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”

At least 60 people killed across Gaza on Monday, in what turned out to be some of the heaviest attacks in weeks.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 56,500 people have been killed in the 20-month war.

The visit by Mr Netanyahu to Washington has not been formally announced and the officials who said it would be going ahead spoke on condition of anonymity.

An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government.

She said Mr Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning remaining hostages held by Hamas as a top priority.

The war in Gaza broke out in retaliation for Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw a further 250 taken hostage.

An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden’s US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.

Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire.

World

Brutal murder on ‘date’ exposes robbery gang suspected of targeting dozens of women in South Africa

Published

1 day ago

June 30, 2025

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Brutal murder on 'date' exposes robbery gang suspected of targeting dozens of women in South Africa

Thirty-year-old Olorato Mongale made sure to take all the measures necessary for a safe first date in South Africa’s biggest city, Johannesburg.

She had agreed to meet ‘John’ in the daytime. She sent her friends her phone location after leaving her house and promptly texted them “on the road” at 2.47pm.

They replied “enjoy!”, hoping she would find love.

An hour later, their friend had gone silent and her phone location was showing up in dangerous areas of the city.

A search party of seven friends set off to trace Olorato’s digital footsteps.

“It didn’t make sense. Where is she? Why is she missing?” says Karabo Mokoena, as we drove to the locations involved in their search.

“Every place we went to looked dodgier and dodgier. It made me panic – I was very scared.”

After finding her bag on a pile of bricks off the side of a main road, they filed a missing person report at a police station.

“I thought there was no way we were not going to find her. We did end up finding her but not in the way we would have hoped,” says Karabo.

Olorato’s body had been dumped at the dirt entrance of a random house less than 100m from where her friends were searching into the night.

Her face was swollen and her eyes black-blue from violent impact. Her top was ripped open to expose her breasts.

Police told Sky News that her post-mortem showed signs of blunt force trauma. She was likely beaten to death.

“It was like I was dreaming, seeing her body like that with those bruises and blood everywhere,” says Olorato’s mother, Keabetswe Poppy Mongale, describing the moment she had to identify her only child at the morgue.

“I don’t think what I saw will ever go away,” she adds.

“It was very painful. I don’t wish that on any parent because my beautiful little girl looked different because someone chose to do that to her.”

CCTV from the driveway of Olorato’s building shows the last time she was seen alive, leaving her home to meet ‘John’.

In the video, she walks towards a white Volkswagen Polo and hesitates as she reaches the left back door. John had come with a friend.

Four days after Olorato was killed, police found the car in a different province with traces of her blood splattered across the back seat.

Philangenkosi Sibongokuhle Makanya – ‘John’ – was shot dead by police in KwaZulu-Natal shortly after they found the vehicle.

The second man in the car, Bongani Mthimkhulu, is still on the run.

The two men have since been identified as part of a dangerous criminal syndicate that lure young women out on dates and rob them at gunpoint.

“Within the four days, the investigating officers received 94 calls from women who were raising concerns and identifying the suspects as those they once met,” South African Police Service deputy national commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili told Sky News.

“It was unfortunate about Olorato, but others were released after being robbed.”

A 24-year-old student who survived an armed robbery at the hands of Olorato’s suspected killers says she was happy to see Philangenkosi killed but she’s still scared for her life.

“As women, we are not even safe anymore – we can’t even walk freely,” she says.

“The moment you leave your house you wonder if you will make it back alive. I don’t feel comfortable walking around the street. I leave the house and then turn back.

“Even when I’m home, I still don’t feel safe and always want to keep myself locked indoors,” she says with a shaky voice – choosing to remain anonymous.

After meeting other victims of the syndicate, she was shocked to hear details of almost identical abductions.

“This other girl was surprised because we went through the exact same situation. They also approached her with the same tactic – let me take you out to lunch to get to know you – only for her to be robbed.”

South Africa has one of the highest femicide rates in the world – an average 15 women are killed a day, many by their intimate partners.

According to police statistics, more than 5,500 women were murdered in South Africa last year. An increase of 33.8% compared with the previous year.

“South Africa has six times the average rate of femicide – hundreds of women have already been killed since Olorato’s murder,” says Cameron Kasambala from Women for Change.

The advocacy group raises awareness of rising cases of femicide and gender-based violence across South Africa.

In the hours after her murder, Olorato’s friends contacted Women for Change to share her missing poster after receiving little immediate help from the local police station.

“I think her friends were the real heroes in that moment,” says Cameron.

“Two police stations that were 10 minutes apart, one finds a body and one has a missing case, don’t make a connection for hours. It’s not the most reassuring police work. And if the friends had not come forward, how long would it have taken?

“Unfortunately, Olorato’s case is an exception. Most cases are not handled that quickly.”

Olorato’s friends are still contending with the violence of her death – what it means for their daily lives and how they navigate their safety as women in South Africa.

“It is difficult to process and difficult to believe. This is somebody who ticked all the boxes when it came to being careful – being meticulous, checking her surroundings and leaving clues,” says Olorato’s friend, Koketso Sejosengoe.

“It shows it can happen to anybody no matter how safe you are. It is happening to the average girl. They are being targeted. These men know what they are doing and who they are looking for.”

“In the purest sense, Olorato wanted women to be safe and wanted women to be protected,” adds Koketso.

“I think she would be very proud to know that her name has not gone in vain and that her death is standing for something – that there will be change that comes with this.”

World

European heatwave leaves Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece in sweltering 40C heat

Published

1 day ago

June 30, 2025

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European heatwave leaves Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece in sweltering 40C heat

Major heatwaves across southern Europe have left Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece in sweltering conditions of more than 40C (104F).

Two-thirds of Portugal was on high alert for extreme heat and risk of wildfires on Sunday, with temperatures in Lisbon expected to exceed 42C (107F).

In parts of southern Spain, temperatures are well above average, with 42C also expected in Seville and other cities.

The country’s meteorological service says June is likely to be the hottest Spain has experienced since records began.

In several Italian regions, including Lazio, Tuscany, Calabria, Puglia, and Umbria, outdoor work was banned during peak hours of sun on Sunday, with trade unions pushing for the measures to be extended and rolled out nationwide.

Twenty-one out of 27 cities were under the highest possible heat alert, including Rome, Milan, and Naples.

Greece has already been plagued by wildfires this summer, with one breaking out south of Athens on Thursday, and several on the island of Chios last Sunday.

Near Athens, authorities deployed 130 firefighters, 12 helicopters, and 12 planes, with 40 people evacuated from the highest-risk areas.

A woman was arrested on suspicion of unintentional arson after wildfires spread across brush and pastureland for three days on Chios.

Scientists link increasing frequencies of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, wildfires, and storms to climate change.

In France and Germany, at least three people died amid stormy conditions.

A ridge of high pressure above central and western Europe is driving the scorching conditions, says Sky News meteorologist Chris England.

Hotter-than-normal sea temperatures, dry land, and surface winds are also partly to blame, he added.

UK heatwave also likely

The UK is halfway through a four-day amber heat health alert, with temperatures expected to peak in the mid-30s (86F) on Tuesday.

Heat health alerts are not public weather warnings – but are instead designed to prepare health and social care bodies for the potential impact on their infrastructure and vulnerable groups.

Heatwave thresholds are likely to be met on Monday and Tuesday, which vary between 28C (82F) in the south of England and 25C (77F) across the rest of the country.