More than 200 civilians, including women and children, were killed in ethnically driven attacks by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in parts of the Darfur region, according to Sudanese medical groups.
Citing testimonies from survivors who arrived at displacement camps in Tina, near the Sudan-Chad border, the network said civilians were targeted and killed on an ethnic basis in the areas of Ambro and Abu Qamra in North Darfur and Sirba in West Darfur after RSF forces attacked the locations.
"The victims included children, women and men who were deliberately targeted and killed on ethnic grounds," the statement said, describing the assaults as a gross violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF.
The reported killings came amid intensified fighting in North Darfur. The Joint Force of Armed Movements, which is allied with the Sudanese army, said Thursday that its fighters repelled RSF attacks on several areas in North Darfur.
In a statement, the joint force accused the RSF of escalating criminal attacks against unarmed civilians, particularly in and around Abu Qamra, with the aim of imposing control by force through killing, forced displacement, and terrorizing residents and displaced people who fled El-Fasher.
Local sources said RSF forces attacked Abu Qamra and Ambro on Wednesday, while the RSF claimed it had taken control of the two areas.
The joint force said that since the start of the assault, RSF fighters have burned entire villages, looted livestock and civilian property, and committed what it described as grave abuses against residents.
Of Sudan's 18 states, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital, Khartoum.
The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has since killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.
