Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused a Sudanese armed group fighting alongside the army of deliberately targeting civilians in an attack on a village in January, warning the raid could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
HRW said in a report on Tuesday that the attack took place on January 10 in the village of Tayba in the central Gezira state, leaving at least 26 people, including a child, dead.
The organization blamed the pro-army group Sudan Shield Forces for the attack, calling on Sudan’s government to hold those responsible accountable.
“The Sudanese authorities should urgently investigate all reported abuses and hold to account those responsible, including the commanders of the Sudan Shield Forces,” it said.
HRW said the raid on Tayba was “part of a deadly surge in attacks by [army]-aligned groups and militias against communities in Gezira and other areas the army recaptured from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)”.
It added that it “interviewed eight survivors of the attack on Tayba who also witnessed key events surrounding that attack” and “analyzed satellite imagery and photographs and videos shared by survivors that showed the bodies of some of those who had been killed, fire damage caused by the assailants, and graves of victims, and a list of 13 of those killed”.
HRW said the Sudan Shield Forces is led by Abu Aqla Keikel, who defected from the RSF last October.
Neither Sudan’s army nor the Sudan Shield Forces immediately responded to the allegations by Human Rights Watch.
All sides in Sudan’s civil war have faced accusations of committing horrific violations and abuses against civilians and each other since the conflict broke out in April 2023.
