By Fighters from Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed at least 85 people, including women and children, in an attack on a central Sudanese village, local authorities and residents reported Saturday.
The assault on Galgani in Sennar province, which began in late July, escalated last week when RSF fighters “indiscriminately opened fire on the village’s unarmed residents,” according to Sudan’s Foreign Ministry. More than 150 villagers were wounded in the attack.
Residents described a hours-long onslaught that began Thursday when hundreds of RSF fighters stormed the village in pickup trucks armed with automatic rifles and heavy weapons. The attack followed an earlier, smaller incursion that villagers had repelled.
A health care worker at the local medical center, speaking on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns, told The Associated Press that as of Friday, the center had received at least 80 bodies, including 24 women and minors.
Mohamed Tajal-Amin, a villager, reported seeing seven bodies in the street on Friday, including six men and one woman. “The Janjaweed are in the street and people are not able to recover their dead and bury them,” he said, using a term for Arab militias associated with atrocities in Darfur.
The RSF has faced repeated accusations of massacres, rapes, and other gross violations across Sudan since fighting between the paramilitary group and the Sudanese military erupted in April 2023.
This attack comes as U.S.-led efforts to resume peace talks between the military and the RSF continue in Switzerland. The Sudanese military has boycotted these talks, while the RSF sent a delegation to Geneva but has not participated in meetings.
U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello posted on social media platform X on Friday, “The RSF remains here ready for talks to start; SAF needs to decide to come,” referring to Sudan’s Armed Forces.
The conflict has created a dire humanitarian crisis in Sudan. More than 10.7 million people have been displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration. Over 2 million have fled to neighboring countries. Famine was confirmed last month in a camp for displaced people in Darfur.
The United Nations and international rights groups have characterized atrocities committed during the conflict as war crimes and crimes against humanity, citing mass rape and ethnically motivated killings.
As diplomatic efforts continue, the violence in Sudan shows no signs of abating. The attack on Galgani underscores the ongoing threat to civilian populations and the challenges facing international mediators in their attempts to bring an end to the 18-month-long conflict.
RSF spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment on the Galgani attack.
