At least 80 people were killed in an attack by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a village in central Sudan’s Sinnar state, a volunteer group said.
“The RSF launched a bloody attack on Jalakani village (Abu Hujer area) in Sinnar state yesterday (Thursday) after a five-day siege, killing at least 80 people,” the Sinnar Youth Gathering said in a statement on Friday.
“The attack occurred when the RSF tried to abduct girls from the village, which was resisted by the residents, resulting in the massacre,” the statement said.
It said “RSF militia” responded to civilian resistance by firing indiscriminately and storming homes, according to news agency Xinhua.
RSF has not yet issued any comment on the incident.
Since June, the RSF has taken control of large parts of Sinnar state, including the state capital, Singa, while the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) controls the eastern Sinnar region.
According to the International Organisation for Migration, more than 725,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in Sinnar state.
A deadly conflict between the SAF and the RSF has been going on in Sudan since April 15, 2023, resulting in the death of at least 16,650 people.
An estimated 10.7 million people are internally displaced in Sudan, with about 2.2 million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, according to the most recent U.N. figures.
Ceasefire talks began in Switzerland on Wednesday, hosted by US, Saudi and Swiss mediators, although the Sudanese military has refused to take part.
The previous round of talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia failed to reach an agreement to end the fighting.
The RSF, which has been fighting Sudan’s regular army since April 2023, captured Sinja, the capital of Sennar state, in June.
The state links central Sudan with the military-controlled southeast, where millions of people have taken refuge.
The RSF controls much of the capital Khartoum, the central state of Al-Jazeera, the vast western Darfur region and large parts of Kordofan in the south.
In this war, Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is facing the RSF led by his former deputy army chief Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.
According to the United Nations, it has brought the country of 48 million to the brink of famine, and according to the US envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello, thousands of people have died, with some estimates putting the number at as high as 150,000.
There are currently more than 10 million displaced people in Sudan, most of them in areas where the humanitarian situation is worsening as fighting spreads.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including deliberately targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian aid.
Despite the Sudanese military not turning up at the Switzerland talks, Perillo told AFP the negotiations had achieved some success because international attention had been focused on Sudan at a time “when the world was turning its attention elsewhere”.
Burhan officials have announced that the Western Adré border with Chad has been reopened to humanitarian supplies.
“Opening the border crossings has been an urgent demand for many months, in order to allow humanitarian aid to reach the parts of Darfur most vulnerable to hunger and starvation,” Perillo said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
