“Let them feel pain”: Pro-SAF social media accounts celebrate and distort reports of airstrikes

CIR’s Sudan Witness project identified a wave of social media posts containing misinformation, hate speech, and inflammatory language surrounding airstrikes in Sudan in August. On both X and Facebook, a number of predominantly pro-Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) accounts celebrated reported SAF airstrikes on Khartoum Central Market and in East Darfur’s capital, El Daein. Many of these posts claimed that the airstrikes were a legitimate response to Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelling elsewhere in the country, and called for the  SAF to increase their efforts.

Media outlets and human rights organisations have reported on airstrike related damage to hospitals, schools, and homes, as well as related civilian deaths and casualties, throughout the conflict. The SAF has openly admitted to carrying out airstrikes in Sudan on several occasions, with SAF-controlled media and supporters suggesting that they were aimed at legitimate RSF targets.

Sudan Witness found that a number of inflammatory social media posts relating to airstrikes  encouraged ethnic violence. SAF supporters and pro-SAF accounts frequently claimed that specific tribes and ethnic communities are so-called ‘incubators’ for  the RSF, a term suggesting they operate in the RSF’s interests, in an attempt to justify violence and airstrikes. Both the SAF and the RSF have aligned themselves with– and railed against –various tribes and communities in Sudan to boost support. As such, historic tensions between tribes in Sudan have intensified, and some tribes’ alliances with either the SAF or RSF have put their members at a significant risk.

Pro-SAF accounts praise reported airstrike in Khartoum Market

After an alleged airstrike hit Khartoum Central Market on 15 August, several pro-SAF accounts celebrated the incident. One account posted a video to X of the aftermath, showing fire engulfing shops and vehicles. The caption to the post  states “Happy Thursday.”

Another pro-SAF account with over 9,000 followers posted the footage with the caption: “a scene that pleases every Sudanese who loves his  country”, implying that the airstrike targeted the RSF and its supporters. Likewise, in the second example, a pro SAF account quote-tweeted the video, describing the footage as “beautiful.”

The SAF and their supporters have previously claimed the RSF-controlled Khartoum market –a popular spot for buying fruit, spices and other goods– was used for illegal weapons trade and reasoned that this made it a legitimate target for airstrikes. For example, after an  alleged airstrike on the market 23 November 2023, the SAF-controlled state television network Sudan TV claimed that it was a hotspot for drugs and weapons trade in the capital.

CIR observed this narrative was repeated online in August, as social media users suggested that the market was a trading hub for illegal weapons. While there is a possibility that illicit trade has increased in the area, these claims have likely been weaponised and exaggerated. Sudan Witness verified footage of the aftermath of the strike showing properly stocked shops selling essential goods to customers, suggesting the market is still used by civilians.

Calls to “double” airstrikes in El Daein 

Pro-SAF accounts also celebrated airstrikes in Darfur, calling on the SAF to carry out morestrikes on East Darfur’s capital, El Daein, and other areas populated by the Baggara Arab tribal group, in retaliation to the RSF’s shelling of El Fasher. A significant number of RSF fighters and high-ranking commanders hail from the Baggara Arab tribal group.

For example, on 20 August, a pro-SAF influencer with over 73,000  followers on Facebook, shared a post in response to an airstrike on a hospital and a school in El Daein. The post stated:

 “Inside El Daein, may God sharpen your aim […] let them feel the pain. Double it, triple it, quadruple it for them.” The following day, the same influencer posted a statement reading: “Yesterday, the Diaspora [RSF] shelled the city of El Fasher, but [we will return] it in double, God willing.” 

On 21 August, another pro-SAF account stated that the airstrikes in El Daein were a response to the RSF’s actions in El Geneina in 2023. The account posted an old video showing young men and children verbally abusing refugees fleeing El Geneina in June 2023. CIR verified the video at the time it was posted. The caption stated that they “do not forget what happened to our Masalit people in El Geneina”  and warned that “airstrikes in El Daein […] came [too] late. You are not safe.” The post received 26,000 impressions and 263 likes and was reposted 105 times.

Days later, on 25 August, a prominent pro-SAF cleric posted a Fatwa to X, in which he absolved the SAF from crimes against civilians, within the context of Islamic law. The post claimed that the SAF cannot be blamed for targeting “oppressive rebels and those who sought refuge with them.” 

Misinformation and disinformation surrounding airstrikes downplay the impact on civilians and  instead frame these attacks as legitimate and warranted. Furthermore, wrongly describing entire  communities and tribes as RSF-affiliated targets may put civilians from these groups at increased risk of ethnic violence, and deepen social divisions that could persist long after the conflict ends.