On January 15, military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced an investigation into the atrocities committed by his soldiers in the Gezira district.
The Sudanese army also released a statement detailing the massacre in Gezira.
“The army condemns the recent human rights violations in some areas of Gezira district following the (RSF's) cleanup of Wad Madani,” the statement said.
“At the same time, the military is determined to strictly follow international law and its willingness to answer anyone who violates anything that may affect anyone in the Kanabi community,” he said.
Dalia Abdelmonem, a Sudanese political writer and former journalist, told Al Jazeera that the army's statement ticked all the boxes by promising to answer for the atrocities in Wad Madani. However, it must do well to gain international support to defeat the RSF.
“This is a good opportunity for the army to show that it is a motivated army and that it will focus on the RSF (advancement) and not on civilians and that it will no longer abuse, torture or kill people summarily,” Abdelmonem said.
“It should say, 'We're going to stop all this,'” he told Al Jazeera.
Since the start of the war, the RSF has shown little control over the areas it controls, with fighters often committing kidnappings, kidnappings for ransom and inciting chaos, according to a recent report by the International Crisis Group, a think tank based in Brussels, Belgium.
Therefore, many Sudanese people see the RSF as a threat to the government despite their concerns and opposition to the military's morale, which stems from its poor human rights record and refusal to cede full power to the authorities after the overthrow of al-Bashir. . and popular riots in 2019.
Although the military has regained prominence during the war, Mr Baldo is not hopeful that the investigation will help answer the atrocities that took place in Wad Madani as human rights abuses are a regular issue in the military.
He also reported the beheading in February and said the military had promised to investigate the incident, but no one had responded.
“If (I see) the officials in charge of the killing (of civilians) in Kanabi are dismissed, then I will believe (the investigation) was done. I will believe when I see the results,” he told Al Jazeera.