KEY POINTS
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Sudan rebel group appeals for aid after landslide tragedy.
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Tarseen village in Darfur buried, leaving only one survivor.
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Thousands displaced by war now face floods and disease.
An armed group that controls part of western Sudan is pleading for urgent foreign assistance after a deadly landslide swept through the mountain village of Tarseen in Darfur’s Jebel Marra region. The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) said on Tuesday that at least 1,000 people were killed when torrential rain triggered a collapse that buried the community, leaving only one survivor.
The group, which governs an autonomous stretch of Jebel Marra, called on the United Nations and international aid organizations to help recover the dead and provide relief to survivors. According to its statement, men, women, and children were among the victims. The SLM/A said the rains have made access to the devastated area nearly impossible, further complicating rescue operations.
“Tarseen, once known for its citrus orchards, has been completely flattened,” the movement said. Its leader, Abdelwahid Mohamed Nur, warned that surrounding villages now live in fear of a similar tragedy if the relentless downpours continue. He urged for a mass evacuation plan and emergency shelters to protect those at risk.
Sudan rebel group appeals for aid support
The U.N. resident coordinator estimated the death toll at between 300 and 1,000, citing local reports, while volunteers working with the Jebel Marra Emergency Room confirmed that at least nine bodies had been recovered. The village, they said, had been sheltering hundreds of displaced people fleeing Sudan’s civil war.
The SLM/A has maintained neutrality in the ongoing conflict between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who are fighting for control of North Darfur’s capital, al-Fashir. That city has been under siege by the RSF, leading to famine and waves of displacement into Jebel Marra. Aid workers report that many new arrivals lack food, medical supplies, and proper shelter, while cholera outbreaks have erupted in Tawila and other parts of Darfur.
According to Reuters, the two-year war has left more than half of Sudan’s 50 million people at crisis levels of hunger, with millions displaced and exposed to recurring floods. The army-led government in Khartoum expressed condolences and pledged support, while Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi, prime minister of a rival RSF-controlled authority, said his administration would coordinate aid with the SLM/A.
Pope Leo also extended condolences, saying he was praying for the victims of the disaster.
