DOZENS of people have been killed in Sudan by a group aligned with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to a medical organisation.

The Sudan Doctors Network accused the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-N) on Tuesday of killing 27 people, including four children in Qardud and Abu Hamama, areas inhabited by the Otoro tribe in South Kordofan.

In a statement, the medics said: “The attacks resulted in a large wave of displacement among citizens towards the Abu Hitan area and Kadugli.”

Targeting unarmed civilians on ethnic grounds constitutes a “clear violation of international humanitarian law,” the group added, warning that continued violations threatened to turn “the conflict in South Kordofan into a broader ethnic conflict.”

The killings follow intense fighting earlier this year between forces linked to SPLM-N and the Otoro tribe, which is a minority group in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan.

The stand-off, first instigated by land disputes, adds another layer to the country’s ongoing civil war which broke out in April 2023 between the Egyptian and Saudi Arabia-backed Sudanese army and the United Arab Emirates-supported RSF.

The involvement of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE has led many experts to label the conflict a proxy war for control of the rich mineral resources of Sudan.

The three countries all deny any involvement in the conflict.

The Sudan Doctors Network urged the international community to exert pressure on SPLM-N leadership to halt attacks on civilians, noting that women were also among those wounded in the latest attacks.

The SPLM-N is a breakaway faction of the SPLM, the ruling party of neighbouring South Sudan.

The faction leader, Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, has aligned his fighters with the RSF and joined forces with the RSF-led parallel government in Sudan.

The civil war in Sudan has killed at least 59,000 people and forced some 14 million people from their homes.

According to the World Health Organisation, around 33.7 million people, or two-thirds of the country’s population, require humanitarian assistance.

There appears to be little indication of any real moves towards a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

The African Union (AU) recently made its latest push to bring about a ceasefire in the civil war that has been raging since April 2023.

A two-day AU delegation visit to Sudan a fortnight ago failed to achieve a breakthrough in securing a ceasefire, to improve humanitarian access and revive a political process to end the war.