“Up to 100” dead in RSF attack on village – DW – 06.06.2024

“Up to 100” people were killed in an attack on a village in central Sudan, a pro-democracy activist group said on Thursday.

The Madani Resistance Committee said the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked the village of Wad al-Noura in Gezira state “in two waves”.

The RSF began fighting with the Sudanese army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in April 2023. The reason for this was a dispute over the planned integration of the paramilitaries into the country’s regular armed forces.

Thousands have died and nearly nine million have been displaced since the conflict began. Last month, the UN warned that five million people were at risk of famine.

What else do we know about the reported RSF attack in Gezira state?

The committee said the Sudanese army had ignored a request for assistance.

“The people of Wad Alnoura called on the army to rescue them, but shamefully they did not respond,” it said in a statement.

The group said the attack had led to numerous displacements and said it was “awaiting a confirmed number of dead and injured”.

They also posted images on social media of what they called a “mass grave,” showing rows of what appeared to be corpses wrapped in white shrouds in a courtyard.

In a statement on Wednesday, RSF said there had been attacks on the army and government-allied militias in the Wad al-Noura area, but reported no civilian casualties.

The Reuters news agency said it could not confirm the death toll due to a social media shutdown.

The Transitional Council for Sovereignty under Sudan’s de facto ruler General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan condemned the attack and accused the RSF of deliberately targeting civilians.

“These are criminal acts that reflect the systematic approach of these militias in their attacks on civilians,” it said in a statement.

sdi/ab (Reuters, AFP)