Oct. 26 (UPI) — More than 120 people were killed and 200 more wounded after a paramilitary group in Sudan attacked a rural village, the deadliest in the 18-month conflict.
The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces or RSF carried out the random attacks, reportedly against civilians in the village of al-Seraiha in Sudan’s al-Gezira State Friday.
State officials said Saturday at least 240 people had been injured during the attack.
Local media reported heavily-armed RSF soldiers opened fire indiscriminately against unarmed villagers. Approximately 150 other people have been detained by RSF forces.
Over the course of the conflict, the RSF has taken control of large parts of the Northeast African country as it clashes with the Sudanese Armed Forces.
Earlier this month, the United States sanctioned a senior RSF leader, accusing him of acquiring and distributing weapons to militia groups, furthering the bloody civil war.
On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Sudanese Armed Forces weapon procurement director Mirghani Idris Suleiman.
The Treasury accused Suleiman of “perpetuating violence, and prolonging the fighting in Sudan.”
The civil conflict erupted in August 2023 when the Sudanese army clashed with RSF soldiers following years of heightened tensions. The country’s former three-decade dictator, President Omar al-Bashir was deposed in a civilian-backed coup in 2019.
More than 20,000 civilians have been killed since the conflict began, according to the World Health Organization. The situation in the country has turned into one of the world’s greatest humanitarian crises.
The United States has accused both sides in the conflict of committing war crimes and attempted on several occasions to broker a peace agreement.