Khartoum -- A report by investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports, conducted in collaboration with CNN, has uncovered a campaign of ethnically motivated atrocities carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) mainly targeting non-Arab communities.

It revealed mass killings of civilians in Al Jazirah state, south of Khartoum, by troops and allied Islamist-backed militias. An officer said army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan was informed of the killings.

"Lighthouse Reports and CNN spoke to several high-level sources who all indicated that the orders for the campaign came from the highest ranks of SAF and influential Islamists who exert pressure on SAF leadership," said Lighthouse Reports.

Sudan's war is between two visions of the country's future
CommentSudan's war is between two visions of the country's future

The civil war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 12 million and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.

Gen Al Burhan, who is sanctioned by the US and accused of allowing his troops to use chemical weapons, has rejected calls for a ceasefire and vowed to keep fighting until the RSF is defeated. His troops have long been linked to Islamist-backed figures and influence within Sudan’s security apparatus.

Satellite imagery, verified videos and testimony from whistleblowers and serving security officers indicate that abuses by the SAF have been widespread but largely unreported in the civil war, with the focus mainly on atrocities committed by the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"Lighthouse Reports and CNN can reveal evidence of the Sudanese Armed Forces’ systematic targeting of civilians" in Al Jazirah state "on an ethnic basis", wrote Lighthouse Reports.

"In early 2025, after more than a year under the occupation of the RSF, the central city of Wad Madani [..] was retaken by SAF. SAF announced a cleanup operation of the city and surrounding rebel pockets. In reality, the Sudanese Armed Forces and Islamist-backed allied militias, including the Sudan Shield Forces, used the operation in Madani as a pretext to launch an operation targeting non-Arab civilians," it added.

'Immediately shot'
Attacks on these communities began in October 2024 in the lead-up to the campaign to retake Wad Madani and continued for several months after SAF regained the city.

The investigation documented killings targeting particularly residents of so-called Kanabi farming settlements. Sudanese farmers in Al Jazira state are known as the Kanabi, a farming community largely of non-Arab Sudanese descent. Much of this community is from Darfur and Kordofan.

Evidence includes bodies thrown into canals, civilians buried in mass graves and villages burned. “Anyone who appeared to be Nuba, from western Sudan or from the south was immediately shot,” a Sudanese Armed Forces officer was quoted as saying.

Four serving security officers said the violence was co-ordinated from senior levels of the security apparatus. An official within Sudan’s intelligence services was involved in organising attacks in Al Jazirah state. One of the officers said army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan was informed of the killings.

Multiple verified videos showed abuses in a village called Kariba, where young men were detained and assaulted after being accused of affiliation with the rival RSF.
Other videos were geolocated near a bridge where a massacre later took place, close to Wad Madani. Footage showed clashes followed by the killing of civilians and armed men. In one video, a man is seen being beaten by fighters before being shot. Many people detained during the operations remain missing, according to witnesses and security sources.

Footage from the following day showed fighting at the same intersection and bodies being removed. However, within hours, a new video from the same location showed later on more than 50 civilian bodies, many with gunshot wounds to the head. In one clip, a fighter claims the victims were “foreign”.

Under international law, the killing of civilians is a war crime.

"Using a three-source standard, we confirmed 59 verified [..] attacks between October 2024 and May 2025. An additional 87 attacks were reported across our collected interviews and open sources. We also verified and geolocated over 50 videos documenting SAF presence, attacks against civilians during the police bridge massacre, and attacks on kambos, including arson and mass graves," explained Lighthouse Reports.