18 killed, 31 injured in paramilitary attacks in Sudan: Volunteer groups

Khartoum, July 14 (IANS) At least 18 civilians were killed and 31 others injured in attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on areas in the North Kordofan State in western Sudan, volunteers group said.

"The RSF committed a horrific atrocity in the Shaq Al-Noum area of North Kordofan State, killing 11 civilians, including three children, and injuring 31 others, among them nine women," the Sudanese Doctors Network, a volunteer group, said in a statement.

The network described the attack as "a brutal assault that violates all humanitarian norms and international conventions," saying that it reflects the RSF's ongoing pattern of targeting unarmed civilians and spreading fear in previously safe areas, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Resistance Committees of North Kordofan, another volunteer group, reported that an RSF unit attacked two villages near the city of Bara on Saturday.

"The RSF attacked the villages of Abu Qaida and Hillat Hamad, killing at least seven civilians and injuring several others," the group said in a statement on Sunday.

Since June, fighting has raged between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF around the city of Bara, a strategic town northeast of El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, which the RSF is attempting to seize.

Earlier on Sunday, RSF soldiers claimed in videos on social media that their forces had taken control of the Umm Sumayma area, about 68 kilometers west of El Obeid.

There has been no response yet from the Sudanese army regarding the RSF claim of seizing Umm Sumayma.

Sudan remains gripped by a conflict between the SAF and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, both internally and across borders, deepening the country's humanitarian crisis.

--IANS

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