UN expresses concern over ethnic killings in Darfur, Sudan

The United Nations urged on Friday for a thorough investigation into reports indicating a second wave of ethnically motivated killings in the West Darfur state, which has left hundreds dead.

According to the UN Human Rights Office, preliminary information obtained from survivors and witnesses suggests that civilians from the Masalit tribe "endured six days of terror" earlier this month.

Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told journalists in Geneva, "Some victims were executed outside the scope of the judiciary or burned alive."

These attacks commenced after the Rapid Support Forces and allied Arab militias took control of the Sudanese army base in Ardamata, near the capital of West Darfur, Geneina, on November 4.

Laurence added that the UN received reports indicating that fighters in Radomta and Dutti "looted properties, tortured displaced individuals, executed many before leaving their bodies unburied in the streets."

He explained that "many of the victims are young Masalit men and relatives of Sudanese soldiers," noting that the reports also suggest women and girls have been subjected to sexual violence.


AFP