Khartoum — More than 1,000 people were killed in a massive landslide that wiped out an entire village in Sudan’s Darfur region, according to a statement late Monday by a militia group controlling the area.
The Sudan Liberation Army said the landslide caused “total destruction” of the village of Tarasin, located east of Jebel Marra near the Suni area. It reported that all of the village’s inhabitants, estimated at over 1,000 people, perished except for one survivor.
Days of heavy rain triggered the landslide on Sunday, which left just one survivor and “leveled” much of the village, the group said in the statement.
The movement has called for humanitarian aid from the United Nations and other regional and international organizations.
Many residents from North Darfur state had taken refuge in the Marra Mountains after fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) forced them from their homes.
The civil war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF has plunged the country into famine and sparked accusations of genocide in western Darfur.
Death toll estimates from the conflict vary widely, but a U.S. official estimated last year that up to 150,000 people have been killed since fighting began in 2023. About 12 million have been displaced.
Factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, which control the area where the landslide occurred, have pledged to fight alongside the Sudanese military against the RSF.
Many Darfuris believe the RSF and allied militias have waged a campaign aimed at turning the ethnically diverse region into an Arab-dominated territory.
