According to the United Nations, more than 800 people were reportedly killed in a brutal attack on a town in Sudan’s West Darfur province in November. The attack on Ardamata was carried out by a paramilitary force and their allied Arab militias, who targeted the African Masalit tribe.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi condemned the attack as a “horrific massacre,” calling for both an immediate end to the violence and accountability for the perpetrators. More than 8,000 people fled to neighboring Chad, Grandi noted, where they are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

The attack is another entry in a series of atrocities in Darfur. The region, a vast area in western Sudan, has been plagued by conflict since 2003, when rebel groups took up arms against former president and longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir’s government alongside accusations of marginalizing and oppressing the nation’s non-Arab population. War erupted last April when General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the para-military Rapid Support Forces (R.S.F.), attempted to overthrow military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan (who himself had led a coup against a transitional government in 2019, established after popular uprising toppled al-Bashir).

The R.S.F., which al-Bashir created as a counter-insurgency force, has been accused of committing wide-spread human rights violations in Darfur and other parts of Sudan, including rape, torture, and extra-judicial killings. Despite its notorious reputation, however, the R.S.F. was integrated into the Sudanese security forces after al-Bashir’s ouster and became a powerful political player under Dagalo (also known as Hemeti), who was also the deputy head of the transitional government.

This war between the R.S.F. and the military has derailed Sudan’s fragile transition to democracy and peace, exacerbating that nation’s humanitarian crisis. Millions of people are in need of food, water, health care, and protection. The warring parties have been engaged in talks in Saudi Arabia, brokered by that nation and the United States, but have failed to reach a cease-fire agreement so far.

The attack on Ardamata is a stark reminder of the urgency and complexity of resolving the conflict in Sudan. The international community must not turn a blind eye to the injustices in Darfur and the suffering of the Sudanese people at large. Rather, we must support the efforts to end the violence and restore stability and democracy. The Sudanese people deserve a chance to live in peace and dignity.