Kanabi settlements burn as violence spreads across Gezira

Since the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) advanced on Gezira on 11 January 2025 (see Sudan Witness, 15 January), numerous reports have surfaced of alleged attacks on civilians. Sudan Witness verified six different incidents in Wad Madani and surrounding areas (see Sudan Witness reports from 16 January and 31 January). 

Various sources reported that the marginalised Kanabi community in southern and eastern Gezira were also targeted as part of the campaign of violence across the region. Although Sudan Witness has not yet been able to verify specific attacks, analysis of user-generated content and Planet satellite imagery show that at least three Kanabi settlements suffered fire damage between 11 and 14 January, in what likely were arson attacks. The camps that Sudan Witness identified are located to the south and to the east of Wad Madani. Although the RSF was allegedly in control over the whole state following the take over of Wad Madani in December 2023, Sudan Wtness could not confirm the recent presence of RSF in the villages that were attacked. 

The reported attacks on the Kanabi followed several months of online hate speech and incitement to violence towards the community, as Pro-SAF social media accounts amplified claims that the Kanabi helped the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to attack Al Sereiha, Gezira, in December 2023 (see Sudan Witness, 8 January). 

Verified fire damage

According to Sudan War Monitor and Dabanga, more than ten Kanabi settlements were attacked since the start of January 2025. Based on analysis of Planet satellite imagery, Sudan Witness identified damage in the vicinity of at least three settlements in January, including Al Shekaba Al Jack camp, Mabrouka Camp, and Al Hediba Camp (Dar Al Salam). In the report linked above, Sudan War Monitor reported that Camp Tayyibah was also attacked on 9 January. Sudan Witness could not independently verify this. 

Sudan Witness assessed that Al Shekaba Al Jack camp, an informal settlement located southeast of Al Shekaba Al Jack town, was burnt on two separate occasions, first between 11 and 12 January, and again between 13 and 14 January.  On 13 January, a private account posted a compilation video to X which includes a clip at 00:51 seconds showing a destroyed settlement and burn scars on the ground. A longer version of the same video was posted by a pro-RSF account to X on 17 January. An individual, off camera, can be heard celebrating the destruction of the camp and claiming that members of the local Kanabi community stole from their neighbours: 

“Destruction! Destruction! This is the [camp]. No more [camp]. We are relieved from it I swear, we are truly relieved. These are the people who stole others’ belongings. Thank God, the fire is still raging. Thank God. And now the sugarcane project is back, thank God. The trucks are loading [crops] again, the Gezira is full of sugarcane, blessings are everywhere, I swear.”

Sudan Witness  geolocated the footage to Al Shekaba Al Jack Camp. Planet satellite imagery shows burn scars appeared across the settlement between 11 and 12 January, leading CIR to assess that the video was likely taken between 12 and 13 January. SunCalc analysis indicates that the video was taken in the morning between 09:00 and 11:00 UTC+2. 

CIR geolocated a second video showing a large cloud of smoke coming from the same settlement (figure 3). A Facebook account posted the video to Facebook on 14 January. The account claimed that the SAF and affiliated forces set fire to the Al Shekaba Al Jack Camp. New burn scars appeared on Planet over the same settlement between 13 and 14 January. Based on satellite imagery, CIR assessed that the video was either taken between 11 and 12 or 13 and 14 January.  

Furthermore,  Planet satellite imagery showed new burn scars appear in Mabrouka Camp between 10 and 11 January (figure 4), as well as in Al Hediba Camp between 11 and 12 January (figure 5). The identified damage corroborates with reports claiming that the settlements were attacked. On 10 January, a pro-SAF account posted to a Facebook group claiming that Hillat Al Toum and Camp Dar Al Salam had been taken over by the SAF. On 14 January, a Facebook user with over 5,000 followers posted a claim that Mabrouka, Camp 16, and Dar Al Salam had been burned entirely, and that several people had been killed. Sudan Witness could not confirm the number of casualties.  

Attribution

On 13 January, the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP) published a statement condemning the systematic, ethnically motivated violence towards Kanabi communities under the pretext of cooperating with the RSF. The SCP reported that the SAF and allied forces attacked, kidnapped, and killed Kanabi residents, and burned down their homes. Jaafar Mohamedein, the Secretary-General of the Kanabi Congress, told Dabanga that there had also been incidents of rape and attacks on children. 

The Office of the Spokesperson of the Sudan Ministry of Foreign Affairs  posted a statement to X on 15 January denying the allegations and indicating that the “isolated incident of assault” on Camp Tayyibah, one of the Kanabi settlements that was reportedly targeted, will be thoroughly investigated. Other settlements, including the three areas where CIR identified fire damage, were not mentioned in the statement.

On 19 January, Al Jazeera Mubasher posted footage of a reporter in Camp Tayyibah, while speaking to residents about their experience under RSF occupation. The interviewees claimed that the RSF abused them, but that there had been no incidents of violence since the SAF took back control of the village. The video, which seems to promote pro-SAF narratives, does not mention any other Kanabi communities that were reportedly attacked by the SAF.  

Nonetheless, Sudan Witness has identified online hate speech and incitement to violence towards Kanabi communities in the recent past, including calls for attacks on an impacted settlement. CIR first identified narratives targeting the Kanabi community as early as August 2023.  Online hate speech and incitement to violence against the Kanabi community re-emerged in November 2024, in the wake of the attacks on Al Sereiha in east Gezira on 24 October 2024. The narratives were primarily pushed by pro-SAF accounts, which claimed that the Kanabi community supported the RSF and that they had facilitated the RSF’s assault on Al Sereiha.  On 19 November 2024, a pro-SAF account posted a video to Facebook with a caption urging the SAF to target Mabrouka camp, alleging that the camp’s residents had been harbouring RSF fighters, and looting civilian properties. The man in the video can be heard calling for a retaliatory attack on the residents of Mabrouka camp. 

Sudan Witness will continue to verify information coming out of Gezira and monitor hate speech narratives towards impacted communities.