Sudanese medical group accuses rebel group of killing 27 people

A Sudanese medical organization reported on Tuesday that at least 27 individuals, including four children, lost their lives in recent ethnic clashes within southern Sudan. The violence was attributed to the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-N) in Qardud and Abu Hamama, regions where the Otoro tribe resides in South Kordofan. The Sudan Doctors Network, responsible for documenting casualties in the tumultuous East African nation, made this claim.

Earlier this year, intense confrontations erupted between forces aligned with the SPLM-N and the Otoro tribe, a minority group in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan. This ethnic standoff emerged from land disputes and has further complicated Sudan's ongoing civil war which began in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The latest attacks have driven many people to seek refuge in Abu Hitan, a neighboring village, and Kadugli, the largest city in South Kordofan, according to the Sudan Doctors Network.

The organization emphasized that targeting unarmed civilians, including women and children, based on ethnic grounds is a clear violation of international humanitarian law. They urged the international community to apply pressure on the SPLM-N leadership to cease attacks on civilians, highlighting that women were also among the wounded in the most recent assaults.

The SPLM-N is a faction of the ruling party in neighboring South Sudan, led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu. He has aligned his fighters with the RSF and joined the RSF-led parallel government.