Two mass graves were discovered in the Al-Riyadh neighbourhood located near Obeid Khatim street in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, amid recent waves of attacks carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.
The graves contain the remains of thousands of people who died due to RSF attacks and were buried haphazardly, Arabic media reported on Sunday, citing local sources.
The sources said that buildings in the neighbourhood were used by the RSF as detention centres. Eyewitnesses added that civilians and military personnel who died under torture were transported by other survivors to be buried in large pits.
The graves are assumed to have been there for around two years before the Sudanese army regained control of the area on 21 May.
Intisar Ahmed Abdel Aal, Sudan’s Attorney General, said in a statement that the delay in opening the mass graves is due to the sheer number of victims.
"Efforts are currently underway to open these graves and transfer the remains into official cemeteries. There is a very large number of people buried there, while other bodies have been buried in schools, universities and in public places," Abdel Aal said.
Abdel Aal added that the distribution of the mass graves across the country has added to the delay, with a high number of them in Wad Madani and parts of central Sudan.
Days before the mass graves were discovered, the deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Nazhat Shamim Khan, accused the RSF of digging mass graves to conceal "war crimes and crimes against humanity" committed in the Darfur region of western Sudan.
In a briefing to the UN Security Council, Khan said that they had concluded that "war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed in El Fasher, particularly in late October as the siege of the city by the Rapid Support Forces reached its peak".
She explained that the team relied on video and audio evidence as well as satellite imagery to come to the conclusion, and found that the data "indicated mass killings and attempts to conceal crimes by digging mass graves".
She further warned that people in Darfur were facing mass torture, and that the "fall of el-Fasher was accompanied by a systematic and calculated campaign to inflict the most severe suffering…".
She added: "Based on our investigations, sexual violence, including rape, is being used as a weapon of war in Darfur".
Since April 2023, Sudan has witnessed fierce clashes between the army and the RSF.
According to recent data shared by the UN, about 9.3 million people in Sudan remain internally displaced, while more than 4.3 million have fled across borders.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says more than 21 million people are suffering from acute food insecurity.
Estimates say more than 150,000 people have been killed so far, but the true death toll is believed to be much higher.