According to local groups, up to 1,000 people have been murdered and the community of Tarseen in Darfur destroyed by a major landslide in western Sudan. After fleeing more than two years of fierce combat in Sudan's civil war, many of the victims were famished and displaced.
The Sudan Liberation Movement-Army (SLM-A) controls the hilly Jebel Marra region, where the avalanche occurred on Sunday. According to the armed group, only one person survived after the community was totally flattened by intense rains.
In recent months, the Jebel Marra region has experienced a population boom as thousands of people have escaped the protracted siege of El Fasher, the traditional capital of Darfur, by paramilitary groups fighting the Sudanese government. The Zamzam refugee camp, where famine was declared last year, has also seen a large influx of displaced persons.
The SLM-A has provided refugees with a unique safe haven by remaining impartial throughout the conflict. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and affiliated Arab militias, however, control the majority of the larger Darfur region and have been charged by the U.N., the U.S., and others with perpetrating genocide against African ethnic groups.
The RSF killed hundreds of people in April when they overran Zamzam, Sudan's largest refugee camp with over half a million residents, including relief workers from Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and Relief International. Numerous displaced individuals took refuge in isolated places like Jebel Marra, where it is exceedingly difficult for NGOs to distribute aid, particularly during the rainy season, when access is restricted.
The RSF and Sudan's army are both accused of blocking humanitarian aid, and aid workers have warned that children in the area are starving to death every day. Both sides of the conflict have attacked and put pressure on U.N. institutions and other relief organizations.
The majority of Sudan, including the capital, Khartoum, is under army administration. With the exception of El Fasher, the RSF controls most of Darfur. On Saturday, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the group's commander, took the oath of office as head of a parallel government that the United States and other countries have rejected.
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