Al-Jazira, Sudan: Sudanese Armed Forces have killed seven civilians in bombardments in the White Nile state village of Al-Qutaynah, activists said on Sunday.
Sudan, has been devastated by a conflict between generals since April last year, and the latest strike shows fighting is spreading southwards from the capital Khartoum.
As per media reports, the conflict has killed over 13,000 people while 7.5 million people have fled the fighting.
Both parties have been accused of war crimes, including the indiscriminate bombardment of residential regions, torture, and detention of unarmed civilians. The Rapid Support Forces has also specifically been alleged of ethnically-motivated mass killings, widespread looting, and the use of rape as a weapon of conflict.
The recent attack, was reported by a local group known as a resistance committee, stating that the fatalities came in bombardments by the air force 75 kilometers south of Khartoum.
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According to the United Nations, such resistance committees once organized pro-democracy protests but now provide assistance during the war.
In adjacent Al-Jazira state, hundreds of thousands of refugees have been displaced once again seeking safety from fighting in Khartoum.
The UN in a report on Sunday said the expansion of conflict between the SAF and the RSF into parts of central and eastern Sudan has increased humanitarian needs during the harvesting season.
Diplomatic efforts for a negotiated peace settlement by the United States, and the IGAD regional bloc, have failed so far.
Sudan Dismiss East African Bloc’s Arbitration Move
Meanwhile, Sudan’s government has rejected an invitation to an East African summit and rebuked the UN for engaging with the general of rival paramilitary forces Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Sudan’s transitional sovereign council, led by general Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan said that the events in Sudan are an internal issue.
In December last year the Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the United States to take decisive action to address human rights violations in Sudan following the determination that both sides in the country’s civil war have committed “atrocity crimes.”
HRW recommends strong support from the US for the UN Fact-Finding Mechanism on Sudan to gather relevant evidence and promote accountability efforts, including cooperation with the International Criminal Court.
