At least 1,000 people have been killed in a devastating landslide in Sudan’s remote Marra Mountains, according to the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A).
The rebel group said days of torrential rain triggered the disaster on Sunday, flattening much of the village of Tarasin in western Sudan’s Darfur region. Only one person was reportedly pulled out alive.
In a statement, the SLM/A appealed for urgent humanitarian assistance from the United Nations and other international and regional relief agencies.
The Marra Mountains have become a refuge for many displaced residents of North Darfur, who fled their homes following ongoing clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Sudan has been gripped by civil war since April 2023, with the conflict plunging the country into famine and sparking accusations of genocide in Darfur. Estimates of the war’s death toll vary widely, but U.S. officials last year suggested that as many as 150,000 people may have been killed since fighting erupted. More than 12 million have been displaced.
Factions of the SLM/A, which controls the area where the landslide struck, have aligned themselves with the Sudanese military against the RSF. Many Darfuris accuse the RSF and allied militias of waging a campaign to transform the ethnically diverse region into an Arab-controlled domain.
Source: BBC
