The United Nations on Thursday said the bodies of no fewer than 87 people allegedly killed by Sudanese paramilitary and allied militia have been uncovered in a mass grave in West Darfur.
The bodies of the 87 people, some of whom belong to the ethnic African Masalit tribe, were dumped in a shallow grave just outside the West Darfur city of Geneina, according to “credible information” obtained by the U.N. Human Rights Office.
The first 37 bodies were buried on June 20, the U.N. agency said in a statement from Geneva. The next day, another 50 bodies were dumped at the same site. Seven women and seven children were among those buried.
The country has been rocked by violence since April 15 when tensions between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out to open fight with Darfur being the epicentre of the 12-week conflict.
The RSF and allied Arab militias rampaged through the western province, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, according to rights groups, with many crossing the border into neighboring Chad.
