Overview
At least 27 people, including four children, were killed in the latest ethnic clashes in southern Sudan, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, a local medical group that monitors casualties in the war-torn country. The group attributed the killings to the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-N), saying they occurred in Qardud and Abu Hamama, areas inhabited by the Otoro tribe in South Kordofan.
The deaths follow intense fighting earlier this year between forces linked to the SPLM-N and the Otoro, a minority group in the Nuba Mountains. Those clashes were initially sparked by land disputes, and the latest violence adds another layer to Sudan's civil war, which began in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Details of the attacks
The Sudan Doctors Network said the attacks forced many residents to flee toward Abu Hitan, a nearby village, and Kadugli, the largest town in South Kordofan. The group also reported that women were among those wounded in the latest attacks.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the Sudan Doctors Network said that targeting unarmed civilians, including women and children, on ethnic grounds constitutes an explicit violation of international humanitarian law. The group urged the international community to exert pressure on the SPLM-N leadership to halt further attacks on civilians.
Context on the SPLM-N
The SPLM-N is a breakaway faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, which is the ruling party of neighboring South Sudan. Its leader, Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, has aligned his fighters with the RSF and joined ranks with an RSF-led parallel government, according to reporting from the Associated Press.
The involvement of the SPLM-N in the ethnic violence highlights the complex web of alliances and local grievances that have shaped the conflict, as the country remains divided by both the broader civil war and regional disputes.