More than 1,000 killed as landslide wipes out Sudanese village

At least 1,000 people were killed in a landslide that destroyed a village in the mountainous Jebel Marra area in the Darfur region of Sudan, leaving only one survivor, the armed group that controls the area said early on Tuesday.

The landslide struck Tarseen village on August 31 after a week of heavy rainfall, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army led by Abdelwahid Mohamed Nour said in a statement.

SLM/A, which has long controlled and governed an autonomous portion of Jebel Marra, appealed to the United Nations and international aid agencies to help recover the bodies of victims, including men, women and children.

“Tarseen, famed for its citrus production, has now been completely levelled to the ground,” the statement said.

The SLM/A has remained neutral in the battle between the main enemies in Sudan’s civil war, the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The two foes are fighting over control of al-Fashir, nearby capital of North Darfur state, which is under siege from the RSF and has suffered famine.

Residents of al-Fashir and nearby areas have sought shelter in Jebel Marra, though food, shelter, and medical supplies are insufficient and hundreds of thousands have been exposed to the rains. Tawila, where most have arrived, is in the throes of a cholera outbreak.

The two-year civil war has left more than half the Sudanese facing crisis levels of hunger and driven millions from their homes, leaving them especially exposed to Sudan’s damaging yearly floods.

Sudan’s army-controlled government expressed its condolences and willingness to assist. The newly-installed RSF-controlled government, which controls the areas surrounding Jebel Marra, did not immediately comment.