Landslide kills more than 1,000 in Sudan's Darfur region

(AFP) More than 1,000 people were killed in a landslide that swept through a village in the Darfur region in western Sudan, a rebel group controlling the area said Monday, saying there was only one survivor.

A "massive and devastating landslide" hit the town of Tarasin in the Marra mountains on Sunday, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) said in a statement. 

It added that "initial information indicates the death of all residents of the village, estimated at over a thousand people, with only one survivor."

The landslide devastated the village and "completely destroyed" part of a region known for citrus production.

The group called on the UN and other organizations to support the recovery of the bodies.

Sudan is mired in a bloody three-year civil war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which plunged the African country into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with famine in parts of Darfur.

The SLM has generally stayed out of the fighting, although it controls some mountainous areas of the country.

Darfur's army-aligned governor, Minni Minnawi, called the slide a "humanitarian tragedy that transcends the borders of the region." He said.

"We call on international humanitarian organizations to urgently intervene and provide support and assistance at this critical time, as the tragedy is more than our people can cope with," he said in a statement.

Hunger crisis

Much of Darfur remains inaccessible to international aid organizations, including the landslide zone, due to fighting, severely limiting the delivery of humanitarian aid.

War broke out in Sudan in April 2023 over a power struggle between army chief Abdel Fatah al-Burhan and the commander of the FAR, his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Burhan's forces retook control of central Sudan this year, leaving the FAR in control of much of Darfur and parts of the southern Kordofan region.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting, which has forced the displacement of millions more.

Hundreds of people have died in recent months due to the spike in FAR attacks in North Darfur State.

The war decimated the northeastern African country's infrastructure.

About 10 million people are displaced within Sudan, and another four million have fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN.