Sudan doctors’ group accuses RSF-linked fighters of killing 27 in attack targeting civilians

CAIRO — A force affiliated with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed at least 27 civilians, including elderly residents, in an attack on villages west of Bara in Sudan’s North Kordofan state, a humanitarian organization said on Friday.

The Cairo-based Sudan Doctors Network said the attacks took place on Thursday in the al-Murrah area, describing them as “a new crime targeting unarmed civilians in areas with no military presence” during the Eid Al-Adha holiday.

It said the attacks worsened already “catastrophic humanitarian conditions that citizens are enduring due to the ongoing war.”

A full-scale war erupted in April 2023 after long-simmering tensions between the army and the Rapid Support Forces escalated. The Kordofan region has become one of the conflict’s main epicenters, with fighting intensifying on several fronts, including through drone warfare.

The RSF and its allies control the western Darfur region and areas in the Kordofan region along the border with South Sudan — both regions rich in oil fields and gold mines. The RSF also repeatedly clashed with the army over Barah.

Thursday’s attacks were carried out during the second day of Eid Al-Adha or the “Feast of Sacrifice,” a holiday celebrated by millions of Muslims around the globe.

The doctors’ network said in its statement that “targeting villages and civilian areas and liquidating citizens in this horrific manner constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”

The attacks come as more than 40 percent of Sudan’s population faces acute hunger, according to a report released on Thursday by the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

The report said nearly 19.5 million people across the country are facing severe food insecurity as the conflict drives what aid agencies describe as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Earlier this month, intense clashes in southern Sudan in South Kordofan between forces linked to the rebel group Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North and the Otoro tribe killed over 61 people, including nine children. Last week, a drone strike on a bustling market in central Sudan killed 28 people and wounded dozens more.

The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced some 13 million, and pushed many parts of the country into famine. More than 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

The doctors’ network also called on the “international community and human rights and humanitarian organizations to condemn these violations and act urgently to protect civilians and stop the repeated attacks on residential areas by pressuring RSF leaders to end violations against civilians”.