The UN’s top official in Sudan says he is deeply concerned by reports of “brutal crimes” in the central Gezira region, including mass killings by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Clementine Nkweta-Salami’s comments come after an activist group said at least 124 people were killed by the RSF during attacks on villages last week.
The RSF denied targeting civilians, saying its fighters were fighting armed militias.
The 18-month conflict in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million.
The Gezira district became a major battleground last week after the RSF suffered a major blow when one of its commanders, Abu Aqla Kayka, defected from the army.
The army said it had brought “a large number of its forces” which it described as the first rebel group on its side.
In response, the RSF said its fighters would defend themselves and “resolutely deal with anyone who carries weapons”.
Mrs Nkweta-Salami, the United Nations Humanitarian in Sudan, said initial reports suggest that the RSF carried out a major attack in the state between 20 and 25 October.
He added that it led to the killing of many people, the rape of women and girls, the expansion of markets and homes and the burning of farms.
Mrs Nkweta-Salami said the “brutal crimes” were similar to those seen in the Darfur region of Sudan last year, where the RSF was accused of “ethnic cleansing” by communities that seemed to oppose it.
Mrs Nkweta-Salami said the number of dead was not yet clear, but initial reports indicate that a large number of people were killed in Gezira province.
In a statement on Saturday, the Wad Madani Resistance Committee, which campaigns for the end of the conflict and the rule of democracy in Sudan, said that the RSF carried out “many massacres in villages and areas”, Reuters news agency reported.
Sudan’s doctors’ union has called on the UN to push both sides in the conflict to agree on safe humanitarian access routes to areas facing “massacres” at the hands of the RSF.
The doctors’ union added that rescue operations have become impossible and the military is “incapable” of protecting civilians.
The conflict in Sudan erupted in April 2023 after a clash between the commanders of the RSF and the army, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan respectively.
The two had joined forces in 2021, which disrupted the transition to democracy in Sudan, but then engaged in a vicious power struggle.
The two leaders have refused to sign a peace agreement, despite efforts by the US and Saudi Arabia to end the conflict.
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