The ICC is investigating attacks ‌on the cities of al-Geneina, in 2023, and al-Fashir last year, where United Nations (UN) experts say forces from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed crimes that bear the “hallmarks of genocide” against people from non-Arab tribes.

“We have got additional evidence, strong evidence, linking what is occurring in Darfur with leadership levels. And we are very, very pleased to say that this is a breakthrough for us,” deputy ​prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told Reuters, following a visit to eastern Chad to meet victims of the attacks.

She did not specify the forces the ​leadership belong to and could not, according to ICC rules, say whether warrants had been or would be applied for.

“We ⁠are confident that there are going to be results in at least a reasonable time,” she added, without giving a timeframe.

In international war crimes trials of political leaders ​it is often hard to link them to specific atrocity crimes committed by lower level perpetrators.

Prosecutors need so-called linkage evidence, often in the form of insider ​witnesses or physical records of political leadership being briefed about operations and plans on the ground.

–Reuters–