Sudanese rebels have waged a three-day assault across villages near the southern town of al-Gitaina in White Nile state, killing more than 200 people, including women and children, according to a rights watchdog.

The attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) involved “field executions, abductions, forced disappearances and lootings”, said Emergency Lawyers, a group tracking rights violations in the 21-month war between the Sudanese Army and RSF.

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Some people were shot at while trying to flee across the Nile River, causing them to drown, Emergency Lawyers added, describing the violence as a “massacre”.

Sudan’s army-aligned Ministry of Foreign Affairs said later the number of victims had “so far reached 433 people, including infants”.

The Paris-based Sudan Tribune also reported deadly attacks on civilians in the area, saying RSF forces killed or injured dozens on Monday alone.

A resident quoted by the media described how RSF fighters on motorbikes fanned out, opening fire on people both in the streets and inside their homes.

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The reported attacks come as Sudan’s government gained ground against the RSF in and around the capital Khartoum, about 100 km (62 miles) north of al-Gitaina. On Monday, the army claimed to have regained control of the capital’s Abu Hamama neighbourhood and dismantled an RSF checkpoint connecting it with the downtown.

Turkiye’s Anadolu news agency reported that Sudan’s army now controls most areas in southern-central Khartoum.

Plans for rival governments

Last week, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry announced plans for a transitional government to pave the way for elections and end the war, as it also made strategic advances against RSF forces in the states of Sennar, Gezira and the key city of Umm Ruwaba in North Kordofan.

Meanwhile, the RSF and aligned factions are preparing to sign a charter this week in Nairobi to declare a parallel government in areas still under RSF control, according to local media reports.

The RSF maintains control over some parts of the capital, sections of Kordofan and much of the famine-threatened Darfur region.

Sudan has been engulfed in civil strife since April 2023, with forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan battling fighters aligned with his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

Both sides have been accused of abuses and war crimes.

The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced more than 12 million and created what the International Rescue Committee has called the “biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded”.

On Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Office warned in a report that “entrenched impunity” is prompting gross human rights violations and abuse in the country, as fighting spreads to new areas.

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The office has warned that the civilian death toll continues to rise as hostilities between the rival parties sharply escalate, and in its new report it called for a broader international effort towards accountability and to stem the flow of arms.

“The continued and deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects, as well as summary executions, sexual violence and other violations and abuses, underscore the utter failure by both parties to respect the rules and principles of international humanitarian and human rights law,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.

“Some of these acts may amount to war crimes. They must be investigated promptly and independently, with a view to bringing those responsible to justice,” he added.