More than 1,100 civilians have been killed or gone missing following a wave of violent attacks on villages in Sudan’s Kordofan region, amid accusations against General al-Burhan’s army (SAF), allied armed groups and militias, according to local sources and political groups.
The violence reportedly took place between January 15 and 17, targeting around 19 villages, including Alouba, Dubaikir and Al-Baraka town, in South Kordofan. Local sources said the coordinated assaults resulted in widespread killings, abductions and looting, including the theft of large numbers of livestock.
The Sudanese Congress Party said in a statement that the attacks amounted to “brutal crimes” against unarmed civilians, describing them as a policy of “systematic killing and organised social cleansing.” The party held Sudan’s military and political leadership fully responsible for the violence.
The Tasis Alliance also condemned the attacks, with its spokesperson Alaa al-Din Naqd describing the events as a “massacre.” The alliance said the violence formed part of what it called a long-standing “criminal approach and ethnic cleansing policy” pursued by the Muslim Brotherhood since coming to power in 1989.
The alliance accused the Brotherhood of aligning in the current war with armed movements and political figures who had previously claimed to support revolutionary change, stressing that crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing “do not expire with time” and that perpetrators would ultimately face legal accountability.
According to the Sudanese Congress Party, at least 220 civilians were confirmed killed and 912 reported missing, in addition to widespread looting of private property. The Tasis Alliance said the real toll was likely higher, citing reports of detainees, abductions and large-scale theft.
The Emergency Lawyers group said security authorities in areas under SAF control continue to implement what it described as “systematic repressive policies” against civilians, particularly activists opposed to the war. These include arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and what the group called “sham trials.”
The SAF has not commented on the accusations.
Ibrahim Bakheit, a civil activist from Kordofan, said the violence marked “one of the worst episodes of abuse against civilians since the war began.” Speaking to Sky News Arabia, he said the targeted villages had no military presence and that most victims were women, children and the elderly.
Bakheit said residents were caught off guard by violent attacks accompanied by killings, kidnappings and widespread looting of property and livestock. He warned that fear and panic had forced hundreds of families to flee, leaving them in dire humanitarian conditions marked by severe shortages of food and medicine.
He cautioned that the region faces an imminent humanitarian catastrophe if local and international silence continues, and called for civilian protection, an independent and transparent international investigation, and accountability for all those responsible for the abuses.
