Mass grave discovered in western Sudan amid conflict

The United Nations human rights office is investigating a mass grave in Sudan’s West Darfur region where 87 people were buried, officials said Thursday. Women and children are among the dead. The paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces and its allied militia allegedly killed the people in late June, said UN Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani. The RSF has denied any involvement in the killings and said the group is not part of the conflict in the region.

Were the killings ethnically motivated? Some of the victims belonged to the ethnic African Masalit tribe, the UN said. Arab militias, supported by the RSF, have targeted the Masalit and other non-Arab communities in Sudan, according to Human Rights Watch. Widespread violence in Sudan also stems from the ongoing conflict between the paramilitary group and Sudan’s military that broke out in April. More than three million people have been displaced by the conflict, according to the UN. 

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in World Tour about how thousands have fled the violence in Sudan.