more than 120 dead in paramilitary attack in center of country

More than 120 people were killed in Al-Jazeera state (central Sudan) during an attack by paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who besieged entire villages in this region on Friday, according to a new assessment announced Monday by the Minister of Health. “The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia committed a massacre against the citizens of Al-Sariha in Al-Jazeera State (…) which left more than 200 injured and 124 martyrs”indicated the Minister of Health, Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim. His ministry “works to provide medicine and care for the wounded and sick in besieged areas on an urgent basis”he added.

“I am deeply alarmed by the escalation of violence against children and families in Al-Jazeera State”declared the director of Unicef, Catherine Russell, in a press release. “Over the past week, at least 124 people have reportedly been killed in Al-Jazeera – including at least ten children, some as young as ten years old – and at least 43 children have been injured”she added. A local pro-democracy group reported on Saturday a death toll of 50 in two villages in the state of Al-Jazeera after this attack. Sudan has been the scene since April 2023 of a war between the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, and the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, de facto leader of the country, one of the poorest of the world.

Sudan calls on UN to act

The conflict has left tens of thousands dead, with estimates ranging from 20,000 to 150,000, with most casualties going unrecorded, according to doctors. Paramilitaries have recently intensified violence against civilians in the agricultural state of Al-Jazeera, south of Khartoum, after their commander in that area joined the army.

Sudan’s doctors’ union on Friday called on the United Nations to press for safe humanitarian corridors to villages “who are facing genocide at the hands of the militia” of the FSR, rescue operations having become impossible. According to medical sources in several villages, almost all emergency care centers have been forced to close.