A landslide has destroyed an entire village in Sudan’s western Darfur region, killing an estimated 1,000 people, according to a rebel group that controls the area.

News agencies said the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army issued a statement late on Monday reporting the disaster in the Marra Mountains area of Darfur.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

The rebel group said the landslide struck on Sunday after days of heavy rainfall in the area, and the village was “completely levelled to the ground”, leaving only one survivor.

“Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated to be more than one thousand individuals, with only one survivor,” the group said in a statement.

The rebels also appealed to the United Nations and international aid agencies for assistance in recovering the bodies of victims, which included children.

News of the disaster comes as Sudan’s ongoing civil war – now in its third year – plunges the country further into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with famine already declared in parts of Darfur.

People fleeing clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in North Darfur state had sought shelter in the Marra Mountains area, and food and medication were reported by the Reuters news agency to be in short supply.

Factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, which controls the area where the landslide occurred, have pledged to fight alongside the Sudanese military against the RSF.

Fighting has escalated in Darfur, especially in el-Fasher, since the army took control of the capital, Khartoum, from the RSF in March.

Advertisement

El-Fasher has been under siege for more than a year by the RSF, which is seeking to capture the strategic city, the last major population centre held by the army in the Darfur region.

The paramilitaries, who lost much of central Sudan, including Khartoum, earlier this year, are attempting to consolidate power in the west and establish a rival government.