A catastrophic landslide struck a village in the Marra Mountains of western Sudan’s Darfur region on August 31, 2025, killing more than 1,000 people, according to the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM).
The disaster, triggered by heavy rainfall, left only one known survivor and completely destroyed the village.
The SLM, which controls parts of the Darfur region, reported that the landslide obliterated the entire settlement, leaving behind a scene of immense destruction.
Abdelwahid Nour, the group’s leader, issued a statement urging the United Nations and international aid organizations to assist in recovering the bodies of the victims, which include men, women, and children.
The group emphasized the urgent need for humanitarian support in the wake of this tragedy.
The affected area, located in Sudan’s tallest mountain range, had served as a refuge for residents fleeing the country’s ongoing civil war.
The conflict, now in its third year, pits the Sudanese army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), displacing millions and exacerbating a humanitarian crisis.
Many who sought safety in the Marra Mountains faced shortages of food and medical supplies, compounding their vulnerability before the landslide struck.
Minni Minnawi, Darfur’s army-aligned governor, described the event as a “humanitarian tragedy of unprecedented scale” and called for immediate international intervention to provide aid.
However, ongoing fighting in Darfur, particularly in the city of El-Fasher, has made much of the region inaccessible to aid organizations, severely hampering relief efforts.
Sudan’s civil war has already displaced over 11 million people, with approximately four million fleeing the capital, Khartoum, alone.
The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and left 30 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. In recent months, El-Fasher has faced intensified attacks, with reports of hundreds killed as the RSF escalates its assault on the North Darfur capital.
The SLM, while controlling parts of the Marra Mountains, has largely remained neutral in the broader conflict.
However, the scale of this disaster has prompted urgent calls for global support to address both the immediate aftermath and the ongoing challenges in the region.