Jailed Sudan strongman Bashir’s whereabouts unknown amid chaos in capital

An attack on the prison holding deposed Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir has raised questions about his whereabouts, with one of the warring sides saying he is being held in a secure location and the other alleging he has been released.

Bashir, who ruled Sudan for three decades despite wars and sanctions, was overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and other crimes committed during the conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur region in the 2000s.

He and other former top officials accused of atrocities have been held in Kober prison in Khartoum for the last four years, as authorities have declined ICC requests that they be handed over.

The Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which together had removed Bashir from power during mass protests, are now battling one another across the capital. The fighting reached the prison over the weekend, with conflicting reports about what transpired.

Military officials told Associated Press that Bashir, as well as Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein and Ahmed Haroun – who held senior security positions during the Darfur crisis – had been moved to a military-run medical facility in Khartoum under tight security for their own safety.

The army later accused the RSF of donning military uniforms and attacking the prison, saying they released inmates and looted the facility. The RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, denied the allegations and claimed that the military “forcibly evacuated” the facility as part of a plan to restore Bashir to power.