Sudan Doctors Network on Friday accused forces affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of targeting civilians in an area free of military presence during Eid al-Adha, killing 27 people.
The humanitarian group, which tracks violence across the country, blamed the forces for attacking villages in al-Murrah area located west of Barah town in North Kordofan on Thursday.
The group said the attacks worsened already “catastrophic humanitarian conditions that citizens are enduring due to the ongoing war”.
The Sudan Doctors Network said in its statement, “Targeting villages and civilian areas and liquidating citizens in this horrific manner constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
South Kordofan saw intense clashes earlier this month between forces allied to the rebel group Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North and the Otoro tribe, killing over 61 people, including nine children.
A full-scale civil war set off in Sudan in April 2023 after long-standing tensions between the Sudanese army and the RSF escalated. The Kordofan region became a key conflict zone, with fighting intensifying on several fronts, including drone strikes.
The RSF and its affiliated groups control the western Darfur region and areas in the Kordofan region along the border with South Sudan. The paramilitary group has also clashed with the army several times over Barah.
The conflict has killed around 59,000 people while displacing about 13 million. It has also pushed many parts of the country into famine. Currently, more than 30 million people in Sudan are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The United Nations and rights groups have accused both sides of the war of committing atrocities, such as ethnic cleansing, extrajudicial killings and sexual violence against civilians. Activists fear that the actual numbers could be even higher as access to areas of fighting across the country is limited.
The country, noted for its rich oil fields and gold mines, is currently facing what is considered to be the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa and the world.
