Arab militia groups allegedly attacked the Masalit people from November 4 to 6, with possible complicity of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), one of the warring parties in the ongoing conflict in the African country, the spokesman said.

“Reported abuses included targeted killings of Masalit men and women, inhumane and degrading treatment and forced expulsion of Masalit communities who had previously sought safety in and around the Ardamata neighborhood of El Geneina,” he added.

Other reports claimed that the Masalit militias also attacked some members of the Arab community in El Geneina.

Such events unfortunately indicate an escalated inter-ethnic tensions and inter-communal conflicts in Sudan, Dujarric warned at a press conference.

The spokesman urged all parties to the conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and to comply with their duty to protect all civilians under their control. This includes the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment to Protect Sudanese Civilians, signed last May 11 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, he remarked.

The Masalit people are a non-Arab group residing mainly in Chad and Darfur.

However, after a seven-month conflict in Sudan, several press reports warned of widespread violence against civilians due to hostilities between the paramilitary group RSF and the country’s armed forces.

The press warned of an “ethnic cleansing” of the Masalit people of Darfur by RSF paramilitaries, after nearly 1,000 people were killed.

Al Jazeera television reported that some 1,300 Sudanese Masalit were killed by RSF fighters in early November. Meanwhile, the Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, considered it essential for the world to pay attention and respond.

Sudan must not be a forgotten crisis, she stressed on Tuesday.

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