Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused a militia linked to the Sudanese army of carrying out a brutal attack on a village in central Sudan, killing at least 26 people.
According to the rights group, the Sudan Shield Forces deliberately targeted civilians during a raid on Tayba, a village in Al-Jazira state, on January 10.
The area has seen escalating clashes between the army and its rivals, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in recent weeks.
Tayba lies around 30 kilometres east of Wad Madani, the state capital, which the army recently reclaimed after over a year under RSF control.
Survivors of the attack told HRW that homes were torched, food was looted, and people were gunned down—including a child.
“These acts constitute war crimes,” HRW stated, adding that some of the killings may even amount to crimes against humanity.
The Sudan Shield Forces are led by Abu Aqla Kaykal, a former RSF commander who switched sides last year. He has previously been accused of carrying out attacks on civilians, both when he was with the RSF and now as an ally of the army.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been locked in a devastating power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced more than 12 million people, and plunged the country into a deep humanitarian crisis.
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of widespread atrocities, with their leaders facing US sanctions.
HRW’s investigation into the Tayba attack, based on survivor accounts, satellite images, and verified footage, revealed shocking details of what took place.
The village was reportedly attacked twice on the same day. Witnesses say Kaykal’s fighters, who are mostly from Sudan’s Arab ethnic majority, targeted the Kanabi community—non-Arab groups originally from western Sudan.
HRW has called on Sudanese authorities to investigate the attack and bring those responsible to justice.
The army, however, has denied any involvement. In a statement after the attack, it dismissed the accusations as “individual violations” and promised to take action against those responsible.
While the RSF has been widely condemned for ethnic-based violence—leading the US to accuse them of genocide last month—there are growing reports of similar abuses in areas controlled by the army.
