CAIRO — Fighters from the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have rioted in a multi-day offensive in eastern central Sudan that left more than 120 people dead in one town, a doctors’ group and the United Nations said.

This was the group’s latest attack against the Sudanese army after suffering a series of setbacks and losing ground against the army in the region. The war, which has raged for more than a year and a half, has devastated the African country, displacing millions of its population and pushing it to the brink of complete famine.

RSF fighters opened fire on civilians and sexually assaulted women and girls in villages and towns in the eastern and northern parts of Gezira province between October 20 and 25, the United Nations said on Saturday. Private and public properties, including open markets, were looted.

“These are terrible crimes,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan Clementine Nkweta-Salami said on Saturday. “Women, children and the most vulnerable are bearing the brunt of a conflict that is already claiming too many lives.”

He said the attacks were similar to the horrors committed during the Darfur genocide in the early 2000s, including rape, sexual violence and mass killings.

In the statement made by the Sudanese Doctors Association, it was stated that at least 124 people died in the town of Sariha, 200 people were injured, and the group captured at least 150 people. He called on the UN Security Council to pressure RSF to open “safe corridors” to enable aid groups to reach people in affected villages.

“There is no way to help the injured or evacuate them for treatment,” the statement said.

Images circulating online, some shared by RSF fighters themselves, show members of the paramilitary group mistreating detained individuals. In one video, a man wearing a military uniform was seen grabbing an elderly man by the chin and dragging him while other armed men chanted slogans in the background.

RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Coordination of Civilian Democratic Forces, an alliance of pro-democracy parties and groups, also accused the RSF of raiding villages, opening fire on civilians, and rounding up and mistreating “large numbers of residents.”

In a statement, the alliance blamed RSF for “these gross violations” and called for preppers to be held accountable.

The attack on Gezira came as the army successfully recaptured areas held by the RSF.

In September, the army launched a major operation in and around the capital Khartoum, recapturing a large area from the RSF. It also repelled RSF forces earlier this month by seizing control of Jebel Moya, a strategic mountainous region in Gezira province, as well as areas in Gezira and nearby Sinnar province.

In October, Abu Aqlah Keikel, a senior RSF commander who was the de facto ruler of Gezira, defected and surrendered to the army.

According to local news, this led RSF fighters to attack villages and towns in Gezira that were seen as loyal to Keikel.

The war in Sudan began in April 2023, when escalating tensions between the army and the RSF escalated into open conflict in Khartoum before spreading across the country.

The war was marked by atrocities such as mass rape and ethnically motivated murders. The UN and international rights groups say these actions amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western region of Darfur, which has come under fierce attack by the RSF.

The conflict has killed more than 24,000 people so far, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a group that has tracked the conflict since its beginning.