Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — Sudan has restored a militia said to be responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of civilians.

After a lull of nearly a decade, the Khartoum regime, with suspected help from Iran, has reconstituted Janjaweed, a network of militias assigned to destroy rebel-held communities
throughout the western province of Darfour.

A U.S.-based monitoring group said the regime and Iran have equipped Janjaweed with weapons, equipment and uniforms for a resumption of operations that began in February 2014.

“The Sudanese government has abandoned the fig leaf that the Janjaweed don’t operate under their command and control,” the monitoring group, Enough Project, said.

In a report released on June 25, the Enough Project asserted that Janjaweed resumed its destruction of villages in Darfour. The Washington-based group provided images of hundreds of huts torched by the government-sponsored militias.

“After spending years trying to distance themselves from these forces of
terror, the regime is not even bothering to deny their association with
these war criminals anymore.” the report, titled “Janjaweed Reincarnate:
Sudan’s New Army of War Criminals,” said.

So far, Janjaweed has reached more than 6,000 fighters. The report said
Khartoum has renamed the militias the Rapid Support Forces and rampaged
through villages and raped their women near a base of the United Nations.

“Militiamen looted and set fire to houses,” the report, quoting a tribal
leader, said. “RSF troops seized and raped more than 20 women and girls.
According to this account, thousands of villagers were still trapped in the
desert.”

Enough Project identified several of the commanders of Janjaweed. The
report said the militias were led by Sudanese Army officers as well as those
involved in atrocities nearly a decade ago.

“Three significant changes are evident,” the report said. “First, these
forces are better equipped [than in 2003]. They
also come under central command and are fully integrated into the state’s
security apparatus.”

The Khartoum regime has acknowledged the establishment of Rapid Support
Forces. Sudanese diplomats, who denied the existence of Janjaweed, said the
new unit was assigned to attack rebel strongholds and prevent sabotage in
Darfour.

Enough Project said the Rapid Support Forces were believed to have
received training and support from Iran. Teheran has been a leading ally of Khartoum and helped
equip the army and security forces and establish weapons facilities.

“Finally, some analysts suggest that these troops, who have been much
more lethally effective than previous iterations, received instruction from
Iranian agents on urban combat, crowd control, and counterinsurgency
tactics,” the report said.

“The Sudanese government refers to the RSF by
their Arabic initials, which shorten to Quds — the Arabic name for
Jerusalem. The similarity between Sudan’s new nomenclature for its most
brutal fighting force and the feared Iranian Quds force may not be
accidental.”

  Darfour, Janjaweed, Quds Force, Sudan renames and revives notorious militia tied to Darfour genocide, With help from Iran