“These attacks are an outrage. They represent a terrifying escalation of violence, and a complete disregard for human life.”
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have carried out one of the deadliest massacres of Sudan’s war, killing approximately 300 civilians, including children, in the village of Shak Al-Noum and surrounding communities of North Kordofan State.
The paramilitary group’s rampage coincided with renewed clashes west of El Obeid as it pushes eastward from West Kordofan’s Al-Kuwei locality which it captured from the Sudanese military last month, towards the state capital.
On Saturday, RSF fighters stormed Shak Al-Noum, a village in Bara Locality, reportedly with no military presence, and executed a large-scale assault marked by shelling, arson, and the targeted killing of civilians.
Eyewitnesses described the village as “completely burned to ashes,” and video footage reviewed by Sudan War Monitor shows RSF fighters mocking women and children fleeing burning homes.
UNICEF, the UN Children’s agency, condemned the massacre in the strongest terms, stating that more than 450 civilians, including at least 35 children and two pregnant women, were killed in Shak Al-Noum and nearby Hilat Hamid.
