Bodies are pulled from a well in a recaptured area of Sudan

Fifteen bodies have been recovered from a well in a part of Sudan recently recaptured from paramilitary Rapid Support Forces by the army. - REUTERS

Transcript

00:00In a part of Sudan recently recaptured by the army, Red Crescent volunteers are pulling

00:06bodies out of a well. Until a few weeks ago, this area, Shargel Nil, was under the control

00:13of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

00:17Hisham Zain Al Abdeen, director of forensic medicine for Khartoum state, says most of

00:22the 15 victims had been shot in the head.

00:29We found this mass grave inside this well. The injuries were caused by gunshots, head

00:34injuries, the entry and exit points of the bullets are there. The cause of death in some

00:43cases is bone fractures because of the fall. So they were throwing people into the well.

00:55Nearly two years into Sudan's civil war and government forces have been advancing into

00:59territory long held by the RSF. Authorities say they are finding widespread evidence of

01:06killings in areas formerly under RSF control.

01:11Zain Al Abdeen said other bodies have been found scattered on roadsides or hidden in

01:15basements with some of the victims tied up. The RSF did not respond to a request for comment.

01:22It has in the past denied accusations of widespread abuses and said individual perpetrators would

01:28be held to account. It has also accused the army of carrying out its own abuses, which

01:33the army denies.

01:36Hussein Al Faki is one of the residents who reported the bodies in the well to the authorities.

01:41He said locals had tried to bury the victims while the area was under RSF control, but

01:47the armed men had warned us not to go near them. He says if you got closer they would

01:54shoot you, so we ran away and left them.