Dozens killed in rebel attacks on Sudan’s Kordofan, medical group says

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

In a statement on Tuesday, the Sudan Doctors Network said the killings were carried out by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-N) in Qardud and Abu Hamama, areas inhabited by the Otoro tribe in South Kordofan.

“The attacks resulted in a large wave of displacement among citizens towards the Abu Hitan area and Kadugli,” it said.

Targeting unarmed civilians on ethnic grounds constitutes a “clear violation of international humanitarian law”, the group added, warning that continued violations threatened to turn “the conflict in South Kordofan into a broader ethnic conflict”.

The killings follow intense fighting earlier this year between forces linked to SPLM-N and the Otoro tribe, which is a minority group in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan.

The ethnic standoff, first instigated by land disputes, adds another layer to the country’s ongoing civil war , which broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF.

The Sudan Doctors Network urged the international community to exert pressure on SPLM-N leadership to halt attacks on civilians, noting that women were also among those wounded in the latest attacks.

The SPLM-N is a breakaway faction of the SPLM, the ruling party of neighbouring South Sudan.