Sudan’s paramilitary forces unleashed a violent assault on a central village, looting, setting fires, and killing at least 85 people, including women and children, according to authorities and local sources.
This attack marks the latest horrific incident in Sudan’s ongoing 18-month conflict, exacerbating the widespread suffering in the region.
Three residents detailed the hours-long assault, stating that hundreds of RSF fighters invaded the village on Thursday, setting fire to homes and public buildings while looting extensively.
The attack came after the villagers had previously repelled a smaller group of RSF fighters, according to a healthcare worker at the local medical facility.
The fighters initially retreated, but hundreds of RSF militants, armed with automatic rifles and heavy weaponry, returned in numerous pickup trucks, according to a healthcare worker and another local resident.
By Friday, the medical center had received at least 80 bodies, including 24 women and children, with the worker, who wished to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, confirming the count.
Villager Mohamed Tajal-Amin reported seeing seven bodies, six men and one woman lying in the street on Friday afternoon.
“The Janjaweed are in the street and people are not able to recover their dead and bury them,” he said, referring to the Arab militias historically associated with genocide and war crimes in Darfur from which the RSF originated.
RSF representatives did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday. In June, the RSF attacked Singa, the provincial capital of Sinnar, about 350 kilometers southeast of Khartoum. They looted the main market and seized the city’s hospital, displacing thousands.
The recent assault comes as the U.S. has spearheaded efforts to revive peace talks between the military and the RSF.
These talks, which the military is boycotting, started last week in Switzerland, with diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, the African Union, and the United Nations participating. The RSF sent a delegation to Geneva but did not engage in the meetings.
“The RSF remains here ready for talks to start; SAF needs to decide to come,” U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello posted on X, referring to the Sudanese Armed Forces.
The negotiations are part of a broader international effort to end the severe conflict that has caused tens of thousands of deaths and pushed Sudan toward famine, already confirmed last month in a large camp for displaced people in Darfur.
The conflict, marked by mass rape and ethnically motivated killings deemed as war crimes and crimes against humanity by the U.N. and international rights groups, has also resulted in the world’s largest displacement crisis.
According to the International Organization for Migration, over 10.7 million people have been displaced since the fighting began, with more than 2 million seeking refuge in neighboring countries.