A medical organization in Sudan has accused the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) of killing 27 people, including four children, during attacks in the southern province of South Kordofan. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Sudan Doctors Network reported the incidents occurred in the Qardud and Abu Hamama areas, which are predominantly inhabited by the Otoro tribe.
According to the statement, the attacks also resulted in a large-scale displacement of residents. The group said civilians fled toward the Abu Hitan area and the city of Kadugli. The Sudan Doctors Network noted that women were among those wounded in the incidents.
The organization called on the international community to exert pressure on the SPLM-N leadership to halt attacks on civilians. In its report, the group described the targeting of civilians based on ethnicity as a “clear violation of international humanitarian law” and said that continued incidents could escalate the conflict in South Kordofan.
The reported violence follows previous clashes earlier this year involving forces linked to the SPLM-N and members of the Otoro community, a minority ethnic group in the Nuba Mountains region. The events are unfolding within the broader context of Sudan’s ongoing civil war, which began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The SPLM-N is a breakaway faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the governing party in neighboring South Sudan. The faction cited in the report is led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu and has aligned its fighters with the RSF.
Sudan is currently experiencing a widespread humanitarian crisis. The World Health Organization estimates that 33.7 million people, equivalent to about two-thirds of the country’s population, are in need of humanitarian assistance.
