El Hilaliya / Omdawanban / El Butana — Hundreds of people have reportedly died after contracting strange symptoms in El Hilaliya town in eastern El Gezira, amidst conflicting reports about the cause of the deaths. El Mubar Mahmoud, secretary-general of El Gezira Congress Platform, described the situation in El Hilaliya as "catastrophic in every sense of the word."
According to the latest UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) update, 54 civilians reportedly died and another 90 got sick allegedly due to poisoned food in El Hilaliya. On Wednesday, the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate reported that the number of people recorded dead due to poisoning was 73.
Mahmoud told Radio Dabanga yesterday that "16 people in the town have been killed by live bullets" since it was besieged by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on October 28. He said that they have recorded 312 deaths due to other causes in El Hilaliya and neighbouring Omdawanban. The residents are reportedly still counting the bodies.
Many official sources, including the Sudanese foreign ministry, El Gezira Congress Platform, Sudanese Doctors Syndicate, and Madani Resistance Committees said that what happened was the result of poisoning, and some blamed the RSF. According to Mahmoud, the people died due to "intentional poisoning carried out by the RSF against the people of El Hilaliya."
Mahmoud also accused the RSF of destroying water wells and burning at least 10 pharmacies. Radio Dabanga was unable to obtain an official response to these accusations from the RSF.
Fertilised flour
Mahmoud told Radio Dabanga that they were sure it was deliberate poisoning because patients had given El Gezira Congress Platform testimonies of being fed flour that contained fertiliser by the RSF.
He stressed that what happened could not have been the result of cholera, because no RSF soldier had been affected, nor had anyone from the villages surrounding El Hilaliya. "Cholera does not kill 312 people in five days, no matter what," said Mahmoud.
"We heard statements from medics from El Hilaliya confirming poisoning, and denying it was cholera," he said. It was not possible to perform a post-mortem because of the lack of medical facilities in the town. Mahmoud said that the only hospital had been destroyed.
Sheikhs (community leaders) in Omdawanban reportedly told Mahmoud that "there are 20 daily deaths due to poisoning symptoms. The cases are limited to people who fled from El Hilaliya."
El Hilaliya is home to the family of defected commander Abu Agla Keikel, which locals say may explain the siege of a previously stable trade hub. The RSF launched a large-scale attack on villages in eastern, northern, and western El Gezira after Keikel, the commander of the 1st Infantry Division in Wad Madani, defected and joined the army on October 20.
Cholera epidemic
The head of the Civil Authority in El Gezira set up by the RSF, Siddig Osman, described the deaths in El Hilaliya as an epidemic. Sources close to the RSF corroborated this, describing the situation as a cholera epidemic.
During a video conference in El Hilaliya, broadcast yesterday, Osman said that they had appealed to international and humanitarian organisations to extend a helping hand to combat this epidemic, but they had not received a response.
Community leaders reportedly "thanked the RSF that rushed to extend a helping hand and provide food supplies and a medical convoy," he alleged.
Social media videos inside El Hilaliya indicated a stable situation and denied the accusations against the RSF. However, many commentators refused to believe the RSF's reassurances, considering it propaganda favouring the paramilitary group.
Paramedics reported a suspected cholera outbreak among displaced people from eastern El Gezira in El Butana locality in El Gedaref, according to the latest OCHA update, published yesterday. No outbreak of cholera was reported by OCHA in El Hilaliya specifically.
Regarding medical sources in Omdawanban who said the patients had cholera, Mahmoud said that "the locality is under RSF control, so this statement was provided by parties who do not have an opinion."
'Shock to the conscience'
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In a tweet on X yesterday, US Special Envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello condemned the food poisoning in El Hilaliya. Perriello described the crime as "a shock to the conscience," noting that poisoning food in a country already suffering from famine "is an especially heinous act."
He stressed that if the news is confirmed, the RSF command headed by Gen Mohamed 'Hemedti' Dagalo "needs to answer for this." He also called for emergency supplies and humanitarian aid to be delivered to El Hilaliya immediately.
November 5, OCHA reported that around 135,400 people have been displaced across El Gezira since October 20, following a surge of violence affecting over 30 villages and towns.
Comparisons of satellite imagery "corroborates reports that RSF allegedly committed widespread mass atrocities against civilians and their communities across El Gezira" between September 29 and October 31, according to key findings of a report published by the Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab in the USA on November 4, which includes several citations of community-driven Radio Dabanga coverage.
