A landslide has claimed at least 1.000 lives in the remote Marra Mountains in western Sudan, according to the armed group Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A).
Days of heavy rain triggered a landslide on Sunday, which, according to the group, left only one survivor and "leveled" almost the entire village of Tarasin, the BBC reports.
The movement has appealed for humanitarian aid to the United Nations, as well as other regional and international organizations.
Many residents of North Darfur state have taken refuge in the mountainous Mara region after the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drove them from their homes.
The governor of Darfur, an ally of the army, Mini Minavi, called the landslide a humanitarian tragedy.
"We appeal to international humanitarian organizations to urgently intervene and provide support and assistance at this crucial moment, because the tragedy is greater than our people can bear on their own," he said in a statement reported by the AFP agency.
The civil war, which broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF, pushed the country to the brink of famine and led to accusations of genocide in West Darfur.
Estimates of the number of casualties in the war vary significantly, but a US official last year estimated that up to 150.000 people have died since the conflict began in 2023. About 12 million people have fled their homes.
Factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, which control the area affected by the landslide, have vowed to fight alongside the Sudanese army against the RSF.
Many Darfurians believe that the RSF and allied militias are waging a war with the aim of turning the ethnically mixed region into an Arab-ruled territory.
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