Sudanese activists report that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have killed nearly 300 people in a series of attacks across North Kordofan State since last Saturday.
Fierce battles continue between the RSF and the Sudanese army in the region, which has become one of the key fronts in the ongoing civil war that began in April 2023.
While the army maintains control over central and eastern parts of the country, the RSF is trying to strengthen its grip on the west — including North Kordofan.
According to a statement from the human rights group Emergency Lawyers, which documents atrocities committed during the two-year conflict, RSF fighters attacked several villages near the RSF-controlled town of Bara. In the village of Shaq Al-Noum alone, over 200 civilians were reportedly killed, “most of them burned alive in their homes or shot dead.”
The statement also noted that simultaneous massacres in nearby villages left at least 38 more civilians dead, along with numerous others who were forcibly disappeared or detained, with their whereabouts still unknown.
On Sunday, RSF forces also reportedly attacked the village of Hilla Hamed, killing 46 people, including pregnant women and children, according to the group.
The United Nations stated that over 3,400 people have been forced to flee the area.
“The targeted villages were found to be entirely devoid of military presence or infrastructure, highlighting the criminal nature of these acts and the complete disregard for international humanitarian law,” the statement read, placing full responsibility for the atrocities on the RSF leadership.
The group also reported that on Sunday, civilians were executed en masse in the village of Um Qureifa in North Kordofan, where RSF fighters also destroyed homes and looted civilian property.
Um Qureifa lies along a main highway leading to Khartoum, approximately 250 kilometers southwest of the capital.
A list submitted by Emergency Lawyers to AFP included the names of women and children among the victims of the attacks.
Reports also emerged of dozens more civilian deaths in surrounding villages.
The RSF is already facing war crimes accusations from the United States and various human rights organizations.
RSF leadership has claimed it will investigate and hold accountable those involved in violations.
Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated that the escalation of violence in the region has displaced over 3,000 people from the villages of Shaq Al-Noum and Al-Kurdi.
Many of the displaced have taken refuge in areas surrounding the town of Bara, according to the IOM.
In recent weeks, the Sudanese army has launched several offensives to reclaim control of Bara, which is considered a strategically vital area in North Kordofan.
Sudan’s civil war has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with over half the population facing hunger and the spread of diseases like cholera. A global reduction in humanitarian aid funding has severely disrupted efforts to respond to the crisis.
-
-
-
-
