Tragic Rebel Attacks in South Kordofan Leave Dozens Dead, Medical Group Reports

A medical organisation has reported that a Sudanese rebel group aligned with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is responsible for killing 27 people, including four children, in the southern province of South Kordofan.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Sudan Doctors Network stated that the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-N) carried out the attacks in Qardud and Abu Hamama, which are areas inhabited by the Otoro tribe in South Kordofan. The organization noted that the assaults triggered a significant wave of displacement among citizens heading towards the Abu Hitan area and Kadugli.

The group emphasized that targeting unarmed civilians on ethnic grounds constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law. They also warned that ongoing violations threaten to escalate the conflict in South Kordofan into a broader ethnic conflict.

These killings follow intense fighting earlier this year between forces linked to the SPLM-N and the Otoro tribe, a minority group in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan. This ethnic standoff, initially sparked by land disputes, further complicates the nation's ongoing civil war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF.

The Sudan Doctors Network has called upon the international community to pressure the SPLM-N leadership to stop attacking civilians, highlighting that women were also among the wounded in the latest violence. The SPLM-N operates as a breakaway faction of the SPLM, the ruling party of neighbouring South Sudan. Its leader, Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, has aligned his fighters with the RSF and joined the RSF-led parallel government in Sudan.

The civil war in Sudan has claimed the lives of at least 59,000 people and displaced roughly 14 million individuals from their homes. Furthermore, the World Health Organization reports that approximately 33.7 million people, accounting for two-thirds of the country’s population, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.