ISTANBUL

Six Sudanese civilians, including a child, were killed and 12 others injured Thursday when a rebel group allied with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled residential areas in South Kordofan state, local medics said.

In a statement, the Sudan Doctors Network denounced the attack in Dilling city by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – Al-Hilu faction – as “a new crime added to the record of horrific violations against civilians.”

“This deliberate bombardment constitutes a complete war crime and a direct targeting of innocent civilians and medical centers providing essential services,” the group said.

The network held the RSF and its allied faction “fully responsible for this heinous crime and the resulting loss of life and property,” urging international humanitarian and human rights organizations to immediately document the RSF violations and provide medical and relief assistance to the wounded and affected residents.

It said civilians in Dilling city continue to suffer “dire humanitarian conditions” under a siege by the RSF for more than two years.

Separately, the medical group reported a growing influx of displaced civilians from El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, to the Northern State amid worsening humanitarian conditions.

“Thousands have arrived over the past few days in the localities of Al-Dabba, Dongola, and other areas,” it said, adding that the number of fleeing civilians continues to rise “beyond the capacity of local communities to absorb them.”

It warned that the displaced civilians endure harsh conditions with acute shortages of clean water, food, and health supplies.

The group appealed to the UN and humanitarian organizations to act urgently and immediately to deliver life-saving assistance, coordinate relief operations, and ensure that displaced families receive the essential aid needed to preserve their dignity and safeguard their lives.

The RSF captured El-Fasher, a strategic city in the Darfur region, on Oct. 26 and carried out massacres of civilians, according to local and international organizations, triggering warnings that the takeover could cement a geographic partition of the war-torn country.

Since April 15, 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been locked in a war that regional and international mediations have failed to end. The conflict has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.