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Wad An Nora massacre

(Redirected from Wad Al-Noora massacre)

The Wad Al-Noora massacre started at around 05:00 (GMT+2) on 5 June 2024, when the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked the village of Wad Al-Noora in Al-Jazira state twice, killing at least 100 civilians. The massacre followed after the RSF besieging and opening fire on the village.[1]

Wad An Nora massacre
Part of War crimes during the Sudanese civil war (2023–present) and Aftermath of the battle of Wad Madani
Gezira State, Sudan
Location14°30′57″N 32°30′41″E / 14.51583°N 32.51139°E / 14.51583; 32.51139
Wad Al-Noora, Gezira State, Sudan
Date5 June 2024
05:00 GMT+2 –
Attack type
Massacre, Looting
Deaths150-200+
Injured200+
Perpetrator Rapid Support Forces
DefendersCivilians of Wad Al-Noora, Sudanese Air Force

Background

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This section is an excerpt from Sudanese civil war (2023–present).[edit]
Military situation as of 6 June 2026
  Controlled by Sudanese Armed Forces and allies (Transitional Sovereignty Council)
  Controlled by RSF (Government of Peace and Unity)
  Controlled by SPLM–N (al-Hilu) (New Sudan)
  Controlled by allied RSF and SPLM–N (al-Hilu) (Government of Peace and Unity and New Sudan)
  Controlled by SLM (al-Nur) (Liberated Areas)
(Detailed map)
(Engagements)

Since April 2023, there has been a civil war in Sudan between the two main factions of the country's military government. The conflict involves the internationally recognized government of Sudan controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan; against the rival Government of Peace and Unity led by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, commanded by General Hemedti (Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo Musa). Smaller armed groups have also taken part on both sides, most notably Sudan Liberation Movement splinter groups, the Tamazuj militia, and the Darfur Joint Protection Force.[2]

Fighting began on 15 April 2023 following a power struggle within the transitional administration established after the 2021 coup. As of 5 February 2025, the conflict has forcibly displaced 12 million people, with 3.5 million fleeing the country as refugees,[3][4] making it one of the largest displacement crises in recent history.[5][6] The conflict has also seen heavy influence from foreign powers, especially Russia,[7] Turkey,[8] Saudi Arabia,[9] Iran,[10] Egypt,[11] Ethiopia[12] and the United Arab Emirates,[13] while also experiencing effects from the spillover of neighboring conflicts in the Central African Republic (CAR),[14] Chad[15] and Libya.[16]

The current war erupted amid tensions regarding the integration of the RSF into the Sudanese Army following the 2021 coup. Initial RSF attacks targeted government sites in the capital, Khartoum, and other cities. The conflict began with the Battle of Khartoum, and fighting then spread to the Darfur region.[17][18][19] The capital region was divided between the two factions, and al-Burhan relocated his government to Port Sudan. International efforts, including the 2023 Jeddah Declaration, failed to stop the fighting, while various rebel groups entered the war: the SPLM–North attacked the SAF in the south; the Tamazuj movement joined the RSF; and the SAF gained support from factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement and Justice and Equality Movement.

By late 2023, the RSF controlled most of Darfur and advanced on Khartoum, taking over most of the capital, Kordofan and Gezira. The SAF regained momentum in 2024, making gains in Omdurman and retaking Khartoum by March 2025. Despite negotiations, no lasting ceasefire has been reached, and the war continues with severe humanitarian consequences and regional implications.

The city of El Fasher, the SAF's last stronghold in Darfur, was beseiged by the RAF from April 2024. On 26 October 2025, the city fell to the RSF, with the city and neighboring villages suffering what some experts called a genocidal massacre inflicting between 60,000 and 70,000 deaths by one estimate.[20][21] Satellite estimates have been as high as 150,000 dead, making it the largest massacre of the 21st century.[22]

Sudan faces one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises, with widespread famine and 25 million people suffering severe food insecurity.[23] Four million children are acutely malnourished, including 770,000 at imminent risk of death, and famine has been confirmed in several regions.[24] The country faces extreme shortages of water, medicine and aid access, widespread hospital closures, disease outbreaks, mass displacement, looting of humanitarian supplies, and the near-collapse of education and infrastructure, leaving half the population in urgent need. The total death toll of the war comprises fatalities from violence, starvation and disease; thousands remain missing or were killed in targeted massacres primarily attributed to the RSF and allied militias.[25] 61,000 people have died in Khartoum State alone, of whom 26,000 were direct victims of violence.[26] Sexual violence has been widespread.[27][28][29] UN Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher described Darfur as the "epicenter of human suffering in the world".[12]

There have been calls for more aid, legal protections for humanitarian workers, refugee support and a halt to international arms supplies to the RSF, particularly from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).[30][31][32][33][34] The US, UK, EU and Canada imposed sanctions on entities linked to both factions for ceasefire violations and human rights abuses. Despite denials, the UAE has been found to violate these sanctions by shipping Chinese weaponry to the RSF,[30] which largely funds its operations through gold exports to the UAE.[12] Many civilians in Darfur have been killed as part of the Masalit genocide.[35] On 7 January 2025, the United States government formally determined that the RSF and its allied militias committed acts of genocide.[36]

Massacre

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Civilian Resistance Committees reported that after stationing at Al-Nala office on the outskirts of the village, the RSF documented themselves using heavy shelling, heavy artillery fire, dual cannons, and quadruple cannons on the village.[37] The Sudanese Air Force dispersed the RSF and forced them to retreat to Al-Ashra neighbourhood nearby, looting the village. After this, the RSF mobilized dozens of vehicles and returned to the outskirts of Wad Al-Noora to surround and siege the village.[38] After meeting strong resistance from villagers despite the mismatch in weapon capabilities, the militia entered the village through the hospital. They proceeded to violently loot cars, markets, and homes, cut off network access in the village, spread their forces along the tops of buildings mosques, and randomly targeted citizens with firepower, with most of them being unarmed. No Sudanese Armed Forces reinforcements arrived to the village after the second assault on it started.[39]

Aftermath

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Videos shared by the Committees of Madani showed the burial of dozens of citizens in a public square.[1] Among the deceased included Sudan News Agency journalist Makkawi Muhammad Ahmed.[40] Finding the full number of casualties was delayed due to network outages in the village, with preliminary fatality counts gradually moving from 100 deaths to 200 deaths.[39][41]

Eyewitnesses to the attack claimed that the assailants would execute citizens who were already injured, and would target woman and children. The assault resulted in the forced displacement of all the surviving women and children in the village, many of them taking refuge in Al-Manaqil. Many of the survivors denounced the Sudanese Armed Forces for not sending in any reinforcements to defend the village during the second assault, despite many villagers requesting help.

The Rapid Support Forces justified the massacre on its official "X" account by claiming that the village held enemy Burhan and Mujahideen Brigades and that they were planning to attack their forces in the Jabal Awliya area in Khartoum.[41]

The Mashad Observatory for Human Rights strongly condemned the indiscriminate nature of the attacks and the resulting forced displacement of women and children as war crimes that violated human rights and international law. They called on the international community to speak out against the RSF, intervene to prevent further war crimes, and bring justice to those who were responsible.

The National Umma Party decried the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the RSF, and claimed that the assault represented a continuation of the ethnic cleansing and genocide in Darfur. They warned the international community of the possible consequences of remaining silent and not holding the RSF accountable for their genocidal actions, rape, and forced displacement.

A football field in the village was converted into a cemetery for the victims.[42]

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. 1 2 "RSF commits massacre in Al-Jazirah village, leaving nearly 100 dead". Sudan Tribune. 2024-06-05. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  2. ↑ "Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening". BBC News. 10 November 2025. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  3. ↑ "IOM Sudan Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Sudan Mobility Update (15)". reliefweb. 5 February 2025. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  4. ↑ "Operational data portal: Sudan situation". United Nations Human Rights Council. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  5. ↑ "UN: Sudan now faces world's largest displacement crisis". Middle East Monitor. 10 November 2025. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "Sudan Conflict". UN News. 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  7. ↑ Rickett, Oscar; Amin, Mohammed (6 May 2024). "Sudan war: Russia hedges bets by aiding both sides in conflict". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  8. ↑ Easter, Reagan (15 March 2025). "Is Turkey Playing Both Sides of Sudan's Civil War?". FDD.
  9. ↑ Mohammad, Talal (12 July 2023). "How Sudan Became a Saudi-UAE Proxy War". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  10. ↑ Abu Taleb, Abdelrahman (12 June 2024). "Evidence of Iran and UAE drones used in Sudan war". Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  11. ↑ "Egyptian soldiers captured in Sudan to be returned, says RSF". Aljazeera. 16 April 2023. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 Julien-Thomas, Arnaud (1 January 2026). "Sudan has now become the 'epicentre of human suffering'". Le Monde diplomatique. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  13. ↑ "UAE is 'main backer' behind Sudan war, intelligence officer tells Sky News". Sky News. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  14. ↑ Schmitt, Eric and Wong, Edward (23 April 2023). "United States Says Wagner Has Quietly Picked Sides in Sudan". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the notorious private military company Wagner, has offered weapons to the paramilitaries fighting for control of Sudan, according to American officials.
  15. ↑ "Rapid Support Forces launch fresh attack on El Fasher, sparking displacement". Sudan Tribune. 31 October 2023. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "الحدث عاجل" [The Sudanese army: The Libyan army, led by Khalifa Haftar, supported the Rapid Support Forces in their attack on border points]. Nabd (in Arabic). Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  17. ↑ "Why Sudan's catastrophic war is the world's problem". The Economist. 29 August 2024. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  18. ↑ "100 days of conflict in Sudan: A timeline". Al Jazeera. 24 July 2023. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  19. ↑ Steinhauser, Gabriele (12 August 2024). "War Tears Apart Sudan's Capital City". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  20. ↑ Staff, Al Jazeera. "RSF digging mass graves in Sudan's el-Fasher to 'clean up massacre': Expert". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
  21. ↑ "Sudan's civil war: 'Genocide' in plain sight". dw.com. Retrieved 2026-05-17.
  22. ↑ Craze, Joshua (4 February 2026). "Inside Sudan's perpetual war". New Statesman. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  23. ↑ "Sudan faces the world's worst humanitarian crisis as second anniversary of war nears, UN says". AP News. 10 April 2025. Archived from the original on 11 April 2025. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  24. ↑ "Sudan's children are suffering – this is how conflict is destroying their future". European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. 18 August 2025. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
  25. ↑ Akinwotu, Emmanuel (14 April 2025). "In Sudan, hundreds killed in attacks on famine-hit displacement camps". NPR. Retrieved 21 May 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  26. ↑ Yibeltal, Kalkidan; Rukanga, Basillioh (14 November 2024). "Sudan death toll far higher than previously reported – study". BBC News. Archived from the original on 15 November 2024. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  27. ↑ "Sudan's RSF accused of 'sickening' sexual violence on women, girls: Report". Al Jazeera. 12 April 2025. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  28. ↑ "Sudan civil war: One-year-olds among those raped, UN says". BBC. 4 March 2025. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  29. ↑ "Children as young as one reported among survivors of rape during Sudan's violent conflict". UNICEF. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  30. 1 2 "Sudan: Advanced Chinese weaponry provided by UAE identified in breach of arms embargo – new investigation". Amnesty International. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  31. ↑ "Treasury Sanctions Sudanese Rapid Support Forces Procurement Director". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 8 February 2025. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  32. ↑ Gramer, Robbie; Malsin, Jared; Faucon, Benoit (28 October 2025). "Exclusive: How U.A.E. Arms Bolstered a Sudanese Militia Accused of Genocide". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  33. ↑ Townsend, Mark (14 April 2025). "Leaked UN experts report raises fresh concerns over UAE's role in Sudan war". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  34. ↑ Kottasová, Ivana (7 November 2025). "Sudan's bloody conflict is plagued by foreign influence – here is what we know". CNN. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  35. ↑ "Genocide returns to Darfur". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  36. ↑ "Genocide Determination in Sudan and Imposing Accountability Measures". state.gov. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  37. ↑ "ماذا حدث في ود النورة بولاية الجزيرة؟.. التفاصيل الكاملة" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  38. ↑ Ghazal, Somoud (5 June 2024). "قوات الدعم السريع ترتكب مجزرة في ود النورة وسط السودان". The New Arab (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  39. 1 2 "ماذا حدث في ود النورة بولاية الجزيرة؟.. التفاصيل الكاملة" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  40. ↑ "اغتالته ميليشيا التمرد..وكالة السودان للأنباء تنعي الزميل مكاوي محمد | نبض السودان" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  41. 1 2 "إدانات واسعة لـ «الدعم السريع» ..ارتفاع ضحايا مجزرة «ود النورة» بولاية الجزيرة إلى حوالي «200» قتيلاً من المدنيين – صحيفة التغيير السودانية , اخبار السودان" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-06-06.
  42. ↑ "مجـ..ــزرة ود النورة.. تفاصيل لا تستطيع النظر اليها - الزاوية نت" (in Arabic). 2024-06-05. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
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