23 killed in paramilitary forces attack in W. Sudan

At least 23 civilians were killed in shootings by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in North Kordofan State in western Sudan, non-governmental groups announced on Sunday, reported Xinhua.

The RSF militia committed "a massacre in a number of villages of the Al-Rahad locality in North Kordofan State, killing at least 23 civilians and injuring others," Mashad Observatory for Human Rights, an unofficial legal body, said in a statement on Sunday.

The incident took place when an RSF force intercepted several vehicles coming from Al-Rahad city and heading for the weekly market of Um Simaima village north of Um Rawaba city and opened fire on the passengers, the statement noted.

The Sudanese Doctors Network, a non-governmental group, said in a statement on Sunday that "the RSF carried out a new massacre against a group of civilians from the village of Fangouga in North Kordofan State, opening fire on unarmed passengers while they were going shopping, killing 23 people on the spot and injuring others."

The network condemned it as "a heinous crime against defenseless civilians."

The RSF has not commented on the incident yet.

Sudan has been embroiled in a deadly conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF since mid-April 2023, which has so far claimed at least 16,650 lives, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an update last month.

Since the outbreak of the conflict, over 7.7 million people have been displaced internally within Sudan, and about 2.2 million others have crossed borders into neighboring countries, according to the figures released on June 25 by the UN International Organization for Migration.