ALBAWABA - Local Sudanese activists confirmed that at least 124 people were killed in an attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a village in Al Jazirah state, south of Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Friday.
The activist said that communication obstacles may have made it impossible to register the actual number of victims, which may be "much higher". They said that all Starlink devices, which are the only civilian communication method, had been seized by the RSF militias.
More than 30 villages in the eastern Al-Jazirah region have been abandoned as inhabitants have fled retaliatory militia raids, the activist added.
According to a report by the Sudan Doctors Network, RSF troops "committed a massacre against civilians in Al-Sareeha" on Friday, causing 124 fatalities, hundreds of injuries, and the displacement of hundreds more.
A member of the Resistance Committees, a grassroots network founded by Sudanese locals, informed CNN that the attack on Al-Sareeha village injured over 200 other people, and the RSF imprisoned an additional 150.
Following the tragic massacre, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami released a statement decrying the RSF attack and raising the alarm regarding the sharp escalation in violence in Al Jazirah.
"human rights violations of the kind witnessed in Darfur last year – such as rape, targeted attacks, sexual violence, and mass killings – are being repeated in Al Jazirah state. These are atrocious crimes," Nkweta-Salami stated.
I am shocked and deeply appalled that human rights violations of the kind witnessed in Darfur last year are being repeated in Aj Jazirah State.
— Clementine Nkweta-Salami (@CNkwetaSalami) October 26, 2024
It is unacceptable and must stop immediately.
My statement: https://t.co/wtleFoaepT pic.twitter.com/NlS0CJAAYN
More information is being gathered by humanitarian partners, who are also confirming the death toll and organizing to help individuals affected by the violence.
Many of those who left reportedly sought refuge in Kassala and Gedaref states, which are already housing hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs).
Since April 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a bloody power war between the paramilitary RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Over 11 million people have been displaced by the conflict, including 2.9 million who have fled to neighboring nations, WHO reported.
