ISTANBUL 

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called on the international community to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan, according to the Vatican News.

"I make a heartfelt appeal to those responsible and to the international community to ensure humanitarian corridors and implement a coordinated response to stop this humanitarian catastrophe," Pope Leo said during his General Audience.

Pointing to the famine and violence, the pope described the situation in Sudan as "dramatic" and called for a humanitarian response.

"It is time to initiate a serious, sincere, and inclusive dialogue between the parties to end the conflict and restore hope, dignity, and peace to the people of Sudan," he noted.

He also prayed for the victims of the recent landslide and added that the spread of cholera threatens thousands of people who are "already exhausted."

More than 1,000 people lost their lives in a landslide triggered by heavy rains in a village in Sudan’s western Darfur State, an armed group said.

The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the group that controls the area, said in a statement that the entire population of Tarsin village in the Marra Mountains was killed on Aug. 31, after heavy rains caused the landslide.

SLM/A is a political and military movement operating in some parts of the Darfur State, which is under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The natural disaster came amid a raging war between the army and the RSF, which has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 14 million since April 2023, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.