Sudanese Doctors Network Blames SPLM-N Rebel Faction for Massacre of 27 Civilians in South Kordofan

CAIRO — At least 27 people, including four children, have been killed in fresh ethnic violence across southern Sudan, according to a local medical organization that reported the casualties on Tuesday.

The Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks fatalities throughout the conflict-ridden East African nation, attributed the killings to the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). The organization stated that the attacks took place in the Otoro tribal areas of Qardud and Abu Hamama, located in the South Kordofan region.

Tensions between SPLM-N-aligned forces and the Otoro tribe, a minority community in the Nuba Mountains, escalated into intense combat earlier this year.

Originally triggered by disputes over land, this ethnic conflict has compounded the challenges posed by Sudan’s broader civil war, which erupted in April 2023 between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The surge in violence has triggered mass displacement, with residents fleeing toward the village of Abu Hitan and Kadugli, South Kordofan’s largest urban center.

In a statement released on Facebook, the Sudan Doctors Network emphasized that attacks targeting unarmed civilians, particularly women and children, based on their ethnicity represent flagrant violations of international humanitarian law.

The medical organization has called on the international community to pressure SPLM-N leadership into immediately ceasing assaults on civilian populations. The group also noted that several women sustained injuries during the recent violence.

The SPLM-N operates as a breakaway faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which serves as the governing party in neighboring South Sudan. Under the leadership of Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, the group has forged an alliance with the RSF and joined the paramilitary-led parallel government.

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