Paramilitary forces in Sudan have reportedly killed at least 56 civilians over two days in the town of Um Kadadah, recently seized from army control, according to local activists.
The deadly assaults, which took place on 11 and 12 April, targeted civilians “on an ethnic basis”, said the area’s resistance committee—part of a volunteer network organising humanitarian aid throughout the country since the civil war erupted between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 15 April 2023.
Um Kadadah lies around 180 kilometres east of El-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur still held by government forces. The RSF claimed to have captured the town shortly before the attacks, which the resistance committee described as involving “widespread violations”, forced displacement, and the shutdown of all telecommunications.
Among the victims was the director of the town’s hospital, while at least 14 individuals remain unaccounted for.
The latest report follows a United Nations statement a day earlier warning that over 100 people were believed to have been killed in RSF attacks on El-Fasher and two famine-stricken displacement camps nearby.
The RSF has intensified its assault on El-Fasher since government forces reclaimed Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, last month—more than 1,000 kilometres to the east.
The United States has imposed sanctions on both warring parties, accusing the RSF of committing acts of genocide in Darfur, while also holding the army responsible for attacks on civilians.
The ongoing conflict has effectively split Sudan into two zones of control, claimed tens of thousands of lives, and displaced more than 12 million people. The International Rescue Committee has described the crisis as the worst humanitarian disaster ever recorded.
