Sudan: Fears of ethnic cleansing mount in western region of Darfur

Seven months after the start of the war in Sudan, civilians still bear the brunt of the conflict that pits the paramilitary group RSF against the nation's armed forces.

Fears of a repeat of a genocide in Darfur, a region in western Sudan, are mounting.

The European Union condemned Sunday "ethnic cleansing" of Darfur's Masalit people by the RSF paramilitary.

The bloc cited reports that over 1,000 people had been killed.

The Masalit people are a non-Arab group who reside mainly in Chad and Darfur a region about the size of Spain.

Citing local monitors, Al Jazeera reported that about 1,300 Masalit Sudanese were killed by RSF fighters in early November.

The UN Human Rights Office said in July it obtained credible information stating that bodies of Masalit Sudanese and others, allegedly killed in June by RSF and their allied militia were buried in a mass grave outside West Darfur's capital.

Fighting rages in Sudan despite the warring parties signing a statement after talks in Saudi Arabia.

The resident U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, said on Friday that the bəˈlɪdʒ.ər.ənts committed to establishing a Humanitarian Forum, with U.N. participation.

She added that 25 miollion Sudanese, half of the population, require assitance and protection.

A conflict in 2003 began in Sudan when rebels from Darfur’s ethnic central and sub-Saharan African community launched an insurgency, complaining of oppression by the Arab-dominated government in the capital, Khartoum. 

The government responded with a scorched-earth campaign of aerial bombings and unleashed militias known as the Janjaweed, who are accused of mass killings and rapes. Some 300,000 people died in the Darfur conflict, 2.7 million were driven from their homes.

These same militias who were known as Janjaweed are now fighting alongside or under the banner of the RSF.