A landslide has killed at least 1,000 people in the remote Marra Mountains in western Sudan, according to the armed group the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army.
Days of heavy rain triggered the landslide on Sunday, which left just one survivor and “levelled” much of the village of Tarasin, the group said in a statement.
The movement has appealed for humanitarian assistance from the United Nations and other regional and international organisations.
Many residents from North Darfur state had sought refuge in the Marra Mountains region, after war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) forced them from their homes.
Darfur’s army-aligned governor, Minni Minnawi, called the landslide a “humanitarian tragedy”.
“We appeal to international humanitarian organisations to urgently intervene and provide support and assistance at this critical moment, for the tragedy is greater than what our people can bear alone,” he said in a statement quoted by the AFP news agency.
Pictures show two gullies on the side of a mountain which converge at a lower level where the village of Tarasin was.
Civil war that broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF has plunged the country into famine and has led to accusations of genocide in the western Darfur region.
Estimates for the death toll from the civil war vary significantly, but a US official last year estimated up to 150,000 people had been killed since hostilities began in 2023. About 12 million have fled their homes.
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.
Many Darfuris believe the RSF and allied militias have waged a war aimed at transforming the ethnically mixed region into an Arab-ruled domain.
Additional reporting by Anne Soy.
