At least five killed in Sudan’s South Kordofan in attack by rebel group

Sudan Doctors Network says SPLM-N forces shelled residential areas in Dilling, hours after attacks near Kauda killed at least 21.

Displaced women from South Kordofan sit on the ground in El Obeid, North Kordofan state, Sudan [File: El Tayeb Siddig/Reuters]

At least five people, including a child, have been killed and several others injured after a Sudanese rebel group attacked residential areas in the South Kordofan province, according to a medical organisation.

The Sudan Doctors Network, in a statement on Friday, accused the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) of carrying out the artillery attack in the town of Dilling.

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The organisation said the heavy bombardment of civilian areas was a clear violation of international humanitarian law, resulting in civilian casualties and further worsening an already dire humanitarian situation.

“The Sudan Doctors Network calls on the international community to take immediate action to end these violations and exert meaningful pressure on the leadership of the SPLM-N (al-Hilu Faction) to cease attacks against civilians and residential areas,” it said.

The SPLM-N is a breakaway faction of the SPLM, the governing party of neighbouring South Sudan. Its leader, Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, has aligned his fighters with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and joined ranks with the RSF-led parallel government in Sudan.

In a separate statement issued just hours earlier, the medical group said SPLM-N forces attacked the areas of Debi and Luweri near the town of Kauda on Thursday, killing more than 21 people, including women and children.

The network said those attacks specifically targeted the Otoro tribe, a minority group in the Nuba Mountains.

The killings follow clashes earlier this year driven by land disputes, adding another layer of ethnic friction to the country’s wider civil war between the Sudanese army and the RSF.

The recent fighting came despite a ceasefire initiative backed by the RSF last month. Al-Hilu did not commit to the agreement, and his forces launched attacks on at least 10 Otoro villages, displacing thousands of civilians between August 20 and 26.

The escalation coincides with broader warnings from a United Nations-backed independent fact-finding mission, which reported on Thursday that foreign involvement, including external supply networks, foreign personnel, and military drones, is driving the conflict and worsening violence against civilians nationwide.

Since fighting between the Sudanese military and the RSF broke out in April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced approximately 13 million, and pushed parts of the country into famine.

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 34 million people, about two-thirds of Sudan’s population, now require urgent humanitarian assistance.

苏丹医生网络称，苏丹人民解放运动北方局（SPLM-N）部队炮击了迪林镇的居民区，此前数小时，考达附近的袭击事件造成至少 21 人死亡。

来自南科尔多凡州的流离失所妇女坐在苏丹北科尔多凡州埃尔奥贝德的地上。[图片：El Tayeb Siddig/路透社]

据一家医疗组织称，苏丹反叛组织袭击南科尔多凡省居民区，造成至少五人死亡，其中包括一名儿童，另有多人受伤。

苏丹医生网络周五发表声明，指责苏丹人民解放运动北方派（SPLM-N）在迪林镇发动炮击。

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该组织表示，对平民区的猛烈轰炸明显违反了国际人道主义法，造成平民伤亡，并进一步恶化了本已严峻的人道主义局势。

“苏丹医生网络呼吁国际社会立即采取行动，制止这些侵犯人权的行为，并向苏丹人民解放运动北方局（希卢派）领导层施加切实压力，要求其停止对平民和居民区的袭击。”该组织表示。

苏丹人民解放运动北方派（SPLM-N）是苏丹人民解放运动（SPLM）的一个分裂派别，而苏丹人民解放运动是邻国南苏丹的执政党。其领导人阿卜杜勒·阿齐兹·希卢已将其武装人员与准军事组织快速支援部队（RSF）结盟，并加入了由快速支援部队领导的苏丹平行政府。

在几个小时前发布的另一份声明中，该医疗组织表示，苏丹人民解放运动北方局（SPLM-N）部队于周四袭击了考达镇附近的德比和卢韦里地区，造成 21 人以上死亡，其中包括妇女和儿童。

该媒体称，这些袭击专门针对努巴山脉的少数民族奥托罗部落。

此次杀戮事件发生在今年早些时候因土地纠纷引发的冲突之后，给苏丹军队和快速支援部队之间更广泛的内战又增添了一层种族摩擦。

尽管上个月快速支援部队（RSF）支持停火倡议，但最近的战斗仍然爆发。希卢没有遵守该协议，他的部队在8月20日至26日期间袭击了奥托罗地区的至少10个村庄，导致数千名平民流离失所。

此次冲突升级恰逢联合国支持的独立实况调查团发出更广泛的警告。该调查团于周四报告称，外国势力的介入，包括外部供应网络、外国人员和军用无人机，正在加剧冲突，并导致全国范围内针对平民的暴力事件恶化。

自 2023 年 4 月苏丹军队与快速支援部队爆发冲突以来，这场战争已造成数万人死亡，约 1300 万人流离失所，并使该国部分地区陷入饥荒。

世界卫生组织表示，苏丹近3400万人（约占苏丹人口的三分之二）目前急需人道主义援助。