Sudan: 124 dead as Sudanese paramilitary group attacks village near capital, medics, activists report

CNN
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At least 124 people were killed in the attack by the Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Friday in a village south of Sudan’s capital Khartoum, activists and medics say, in what, if confirmed, marks one of the deadliest incidents in a civil war that shows no signs of abating.

RSF was fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control of the country since last April. Both forces have been accused of killing civilians.

The incident follows the defection of the RSF commander from Al-Jazirah, the region where the massacre allegedly took place. Since then, RSF attacks have escalated, reports say.

A member of the Resistance Committees, a grassroots network of Sudanese residents, told CNN that more than 200 other civilians were injured in the attack on the village of Al-Sareeha, and another 150 were detained by the RSF.

The true number of victims may be “significantly higher”, the activist said, citing difficulties in documentation due to communication barriers. The activist requested anonymity for safety reasons.

“The RSF militia seized all Starlink devices – the only means of communication available to civilians,” they said. The activist also noted that more than 30 villages in the eastern Al-Jazirah region have been abandoned as residents flee retaliatory militia attacks.

The Sudan Doctors Network also reported on mass killings in the same village, saying RSF forces “committed a massacre against civilians in Al-Sareeha”, leaving 124 dead, numerous injuries and the displacement of hundreds in the attacks from friday.

CNN cannot independently verify the incident or the reported numbers because media crews are not allowed in the area.

CNN reached out to RSF for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

The UN says fighting between the SAF and the RSF has sparked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands died and millions were displaced.

CNN reporting last year exposed a Campaign led by RSF to enslave men and womenand other atrocities by the paramilitary group and allied militias in Sudan’s western Darfur region – an area already scarred by what has been widely described as the first genocide of the 21st century.