Rapid Support Forces massacre 100 dead in Sudan village

This article was last updated on June 6, 2024

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RSF causes massacre with at least 100 dead in Sudan village

At least a hundred people have been killed in an attack by the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a village in Sudan. Several activists said this to the Reuters news agency. The news agency has not yet independently verified those numbers.

The attack took place in Al Jazira state, in the village of Wad Alnoura, about 100 kilometers south of the capital Khartoum. The state consists mainly of small villages with farms. In December, RSF fighters captured the capital Wad Madani.

A reporter from the Reuters news agency posted a photo on X showing dozens of dead people wrapped in white cloths. The reporter speaks of the deadliest attack to date in the region.

“Wad Alnoura witnessed a genocide on Wednesday after two attacks by the RSF. Up to a hundred people were killed,” said a statement from the pro-democracy Wad Madani resistance movement. That movement later estimated the number of deaths at hundreds. According to the organization, the Sudanese army did not respond to a request for help.

The RSF itself says it has carried out attacks on the army and allied militias in and around the village. The statement is silent on civilian casualties. The resistance movement accuses the RSF of using heavy artillery fire on civilians, looting and driving women and children to a nearby town.

The military-backed transitional council condemned the attack. “These are criminal acts that reflect the systematic behavior of these militias in attacking civilians,” the statement said.

Civil war for more than a year

The civil war in Sudan is already raging more than a year. The RSF and the Sudanese army are locked in a bloody battle for control in the East African country. The RSF’s power in Darfur has been expanding ever since, villages are being burned down and they are conquering city after city.

Looting, sexual and ethnic violence are the order of the day and help from the international community is slow to come. At the beginning of this year, the UN estimated that $3.8 billion in emergency aid is needed. At least 25 million people have been in need since the war broke out, millions of people have been displaced and the exact number of deaths is not clear.

The war started because the warring parties could not agree on the division of power after they jointly deposed autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir five years ago. He was in power for more than thirty years.