A Sudanese medical group on Thursday accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of holding 73 women and 29 children in the city of Muglad in West Kordofan state.
The Sudan Doctors Network said RSF forces rounded up the women and girls in the city of Babanusa and transferred them to Muglad city on accusations of having relatives serving in the Sudanese army.
The detainees are held under "extremely poor humanitarian conditions," lacking basic health care, food and psychological support, the statement said.
The group said detaining women and children constitutes "a grave violation of international humanitarian law and treaties that prohibit targeting civilians or using them as leverage in armed conflicts."
It held the RSF leadership fully responsible for the safety of the detainees and called for their immediate and unconditional release, safe reunion with their families, and urgent access for humanitarian and medical organizations to provide care.
The group also urged the UN and international and regional organizations to press RSF leaders to halt the violations and ensure protection for civilians, particularly women and children.
The rebel group captured Babanusa on Dec. 2 after intense fighting with the Sudanese army.
The three Kordofan states—North, West, and South—have seen weeks of fierce fighting between the army and the RSF, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee.
Of Sudan's 18 states, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital Khartoum.
The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has since killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.
