Sudanese human rights organisations had evidence the Sudanese paramilitary, Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had detained more than 5,000 people in the capital city, Khartoum. 

They also said RSF militias were keeping them in inhumane conditions, according to Reuters.

The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army for three months, having dominated the Sudanese capital on the ground.

Residents have accused the paramilitary force of looting and occupying homes.

However, Reuters said RSF denied the report when contacted on Friday, claiming it only held prisoners of war who were well-treated.

“These organisations are ignoring violations by the army against civilians including air and artillery strikes, detentions, and arming of civilians,” a representative for the force said.

Among those detained in several locations across Khartoum were combatants, but also 3,500 civilians including vulnerable women and foreign nationals, said the organisations, who asked to have their names withheld for fear of retribution.

The group said they would present to the United Nations documentation of cases of death by torture, as well as “degrading, inhumane conditions of detention devoid of human dignity and the most basic necessities of life.”

The United Nations human rights office said on Thursday at least 87 people had been buried in a mass grave in the Darfur city of El Geneina, accusing the RSF and allied militias of the killings, which the paramilitary force denied.