They accused her of loyalty to the army and its allies, their rivals in an 18-month war. "They said 'You killed us, so today we'll kill you and rape your girls,'" she told Reuters, sheltering under a makeshift sheet in the town of New Halfa, where she arrived after walking for days on foot with her elderly mother and children.

She said the soldiers chased them out of their village with whips and later shot at them on motorcycles, which two other victims of the attack also mentioned.

Reuters spoke to 13 victims of a series of intense, violent raids in eastern Gezira over the past two weeks, which affected at least 65 villages and towns according to activists.

The UN says some 135 000 people have been displaced, largely to Kassala, Gedaref, and River Nile states, which are already packed with many of the almost 10 million internally displaced by the devastating war that broke out in April 2023.

"I am shocked and deeply appalled that human rights violations of the kind witnessed in Darfur last year are being repeated in El Gezira State. These are atrocious crimes,” said the UN's top official in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, referring to attacks last year that prompted accusations of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity from the United States and others.

The war has unleashed hunger across the country, erased most signs of a functioning state in RSF-held areas, and prompted fears of fragmentation.

Both sides are accused of hindering much needed international assistance.

Spokespersons from the RSF and Sudanese army did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

--Reuters--