A group of human rights lawyers in Sudan has accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of raiding and setting fire to villages in the state of North Kordofan, killing nearly 300 people, including children and pregnant women. According to Emergency Lawyers, the RSF attacked several villages on Saturday around the city of Bara, which the paramilitary force controls. In one village, Shag Alnom, more than 200 people were killed in a “terrible massacre”, with victims either “burned inside their homes” or shot.
The group added that in the neighbouring villages, 38 other civilians were also killed, and dozens more have been forcibly disappeared. The RSF carried out “another massacre” in the village of Hilat Hamid, killing at least 46 people, including pregnant women and children. Emergency Lawyers said it has been proven that the targeted villages were completely empty of any military objectives, which makes clear the criminal nature of these crimes carried out in complete disregard of international humanitarian law.
“It has been proven that these targeted villages were completely empty of any military objectives, which makes clear the criminal nature of these crimes carried out in complete disregard of humanitarian law,” the group said, placing the responsibility with the RSF leadership. The violence has resulted in a significant humanitarian crisis, with over 3,000 people fleeing their homes and seeking refuge in surrounding areas.
The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday that intensified fighting in the region forced more than 3,000 people to flee the villages of Shag Alnom and al-Kordi. Many have sought refuge in the surrounding parts of Bara, according to the UN agency. The United States and human rights groups have accused the RSF of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Its soldiers have carried out a series of violent looting raids in territory it has taken control of across the country.
The RSF leadership says it will bring those found responsible for such acts to justice. Sudan’s civil war has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, driving more than half the population into hunger and spreading disease, including cholera, across the country. At least 40,000 people have been killed, while 13 million have been displaced. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has launched a new probe into war crimes in the western Darfur region.
Senior prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told the UN Security Council that her office has “reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity” are being committed there. Khan said her office has focused its probe on crimes committed in West Darfur and interviewed victims who have fled to neighbouring Chad. She described the depth of suffering and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur as having “reached an intolerable state”, with famine escalating and hospitals, humanitarian convoys, and other civilian infrastructure being targeted.
“People are being deprived of water and food. Rape and sexual violence are being weaponised,” Khan said, adding that abductions for ransom had become “common practice”. The situation in Sudan remains dire, with the humanitarian crisis continuing to worsen. The international community must take action to address the crisis and hold those responsible for the violence accountable.