Sudan: 'Up to 100' killed in RSF attack on village
June 6, 2024
An attack on a village in central Sudan has killed "up to 100" people, a pro-democracy activist group said on Thursday.
The Madani Resistance Committee said that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked the village of Wad al-Noura in the state of Gezira "in two waves."
The RSF began fighting with the Sudanese army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in April 2023 over a dispute regarding the planned integration of the paramilitary into the country's regular armed forces.
Thousands have died and almost 9 million have been displaced since the start of the conflict. Last month, the UN warned that 5 million people were at risk of famine.
What else do we know about the reported RSF attack in Gezira state?
The committee said that the Sudanese army had not heeded a request for help.
"The people of Wad Alnoura called on the army to rescue them, but they shamefully did not respond," it said in a statement.
The group said that the attack had caused widespread displacement. They said they were "waiting for a confirmed toll of the dead and injured."
They also shared images of what they called a "mass grave" on social media, with rows of what appeared to be bodies in white shrouds in a courtyard.
In a statement on Wednesday, the RSF said that it had attacked the army and government-aligned militias in the area around Wad al-Noura but did not report any civilian casualties.
The Reuters news agency said it could not verify the death toll due to a social media blackout.
The Transitional Sovereignty Council under Sudan's de facto ruler General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan condemned the attack and accused the RSF of targeting civilians.
"These are criminal acts that reflect the systematic behavior of these militias in targeting civilians," it said in a statement.
sdi/ab (Reuters, AFP)