The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have taken over the Sudan National Museum in the capital Khartoum, the museum’s deputy director said on Saturday, urging them to protect the national heritage.
Members of the Rapid Support Forces, who have been fighting the army for control of Sudan since mid-April, entered the museum on Friday, deputy director Ikhlas Abdellatif said.
According to Abdellatif, museum staff are unaware of the situation inside the museum because they suspended work there after a violent conflict broke out on April 15, forcing the police guarding the site to withdraw.
RSF released a video filmed on the grounds of the museum in which the soldier denies that he has caused or will cause any harm to the museum and invites any individuals or organizations to visit the museum for inspection.
The video also shows RSF fighters covering the naked mummies with sheets and closing the plain white boxes they were in. It was unclear when and why the mummies were discovered.
The museum is housed in a large building on the banks of the River Nile in the center of Khartoum, close to the central bank, in an area where some of the fiercest fighting took place.
Among the thousands of priceless relics are embalmed mummies dating back to 2500 BC, making them among the oldest and most archaeologically important in the world.
The museum also has statues, pottery and ancient frescoes with artifacts from the Stone Age to the Christian and Islamic eras, former director Hatim Alnur said.
Roxane Trioux, a member of a French archeological team working in Sudan, said they had been monitoring the museum’s satellite imagery and had seen potential signs of damage there before Friday, including signs of burning.
“We don’t know the extent of the damage inside,” she said.
Fighting continues despite repeated truces, including an agreement between Saudi Arabia and the United States signed by both sides. The last one was due to expire on Saturday evening.
On Saturday afternoon, residents reported clashes, including air and artillery strikes in southern Khartoum and the northern parts of its sister cities, Omdurman and Bahri, across the Nile and the Sharg el-Nil region to the east.
After ongoing clashes, shelling and the seizure of civilian buildings, Washington and Riyadh suspended negotiations. This week, the US said it was imposing sanctions on the business interests of both sides.
Since the ouster of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019, the Sudanese government has been led by a sovereign council under army commander General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, with SRB chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, as his deputy.
Now the two are leading rival forces in a bloody power struggle, and Burkhan removed Hemedti from his post last month.
On Friday, the UN Security Council called on the warring parties to cease hostilities to allow access for humanitarian organizations.
“The army is shelling us, the SRB are dispersed in the streets, and the city is paying the price for the war,” said Sami el-Tayeb, a 47-year-old resident of Omdurman.
The war has already displaced 1.2 million people and forced another 400,000 to flee to neighboring states, bringing Sudan to the brink of disaster and raising fears of wider conflict.
