Sudan National Museum reportedly Looted amid ongoing war between SAF and RSF
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Loading... - Vivian Kiiza
- 19 Sep 2024
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The Sudan National Museum in Khartoum has reportedly fallen victim to extensive looting amid the ongoing civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). According to a report by Sudan’s national broadcaster, the SBC, members of the RSF were involved in "a large-scale looting and smuggling operation," with some of the museum's artifacts being trafficked across the southern border into South Sudan. Satellite imagery reportedly confirmed that trucks loaded with items left the museum earlier this year.
While the exact artifacts stolen remain unspecified, sources cited by SBC indicate that exhibitions from the museum were transported out of the country, and some have allegedly appeared for sale online. This incident follows previous accusations of looting by the RSF, who had initially denied such claims, asserting that they were safeguarding cultural property in Khartoum.
The ongoing civil war, which began in April 2023, has placed Sudan's cultural heritage at significant risk. Many cultural institutions, including museums, archives, and historical sites, have been vulnerable to looting, vandalism, and destruction amid the conflict.
In April, Sara Abdalla Khidir Saeed, director of the Sudan Natural History Museum, issued a public letter warning that local museums were unprotected from looting. Additionally, several key cultural archives, such as those maintained by the Mohamed Omer Bashir Centre for Sudanese Studies and the Abdul Karim Mirghani Center, have been lost.
International organizations like Sudan's National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums (NCAM) and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) have proposed measures to safeguard cultural heritage, including artifact evacuations. However, ongoing violence has hampered these efforts. ICCROM’s Aparna Tandon noted the difficulty of incorporating cultural heritage protection into humanitarian aid frameworks, emphasizing the need for greater integration of cultural preservation in crisis situations.
