Twenty-seven people, including four children, were killed in attacks by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), an ally of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in two areas of Sudan’s South Kordofan state, a local medical group said Tuesday.

“The attacks resulted in a large wave of displacement among citizens towards the Abu Hitan area and Kadugli,” the Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement.

Targeting unarmed civilians on ethnic grounds, it added, constitutes a “clear violation of international humanitarian law,” warning that continued violations threatened to turn “the conflict in South Kordofan into a broader ethnic conflict.”

The network urged rights groups and the international community to pressure the SPLM-N to halt its attacks. It also called for unhindered humanitarian aid to those affected.

The SPLM-N did not immediately respond to the network’s statement.

Since last October, Sudan’s South Kordofan, North Kordofan and West Kordofan states have witnessed fierce clashes between the Sudanese army on one side and the RSF and the SPLM-N on the other.

Tens of thousands of people have reportedly been displaced by the violence.

Sudan has suffered conflict between the army and the RSF since April 2023, which has led to the death of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of roughly 13 million others, according to UN and international estimates.