KHARTOUM, Sept 3, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Sudan has recovered 270 bodies from 
under the mud after a landslide buried a remote mountain village in the 
Darfur region, a civilian leader under the rebel group controlling the area 
said Wednesday.

Heavy rains triggered the landslip which almost wiped out the village of 
Tarasin in the Jebel Marra range, the Abdulwahid al-Nur faction of the Sudan 
Liberation Movement/Army (SLM) said.

Citing sources on the ground, the United Nations said that between 300 and 
1,000 people were killed in the landslide though the full scale of the 
disaster remains unclear due to the area's inaccessibility.

"So far, around 270 bodies have been recovered and buried," said Mogeeb al-
Rahman Mohamed al-Zubeir, who heads the civilian authority in SLM-controlled 
territory.

"Hundreds remain trapped under the rubble that swallowed homes and farmland," 
he told AFP via satellite phone from the Jebel Marra region.

Dead livestock lie buried in the thick sludge, he said, and water resources 
across the area have been affected.

"No humanitarian organisation has arrived yet," Zubeir said, adding that the 
entire rescue mission falls to local residents and SLM members, both working 
with extremely limited resources.

"The scale of the disaster is larger than I had imagined," he said, after 
arriving in the village on Wednesday.

- 'Pain and despair' -

Footage shared by the SLM on Wednesday showed local residents wading through 
the mud, using only their bare hands to excavate bodies from the debris.

Initial estimates by the rebel group suggested that nearly all of the 
village's more than 1,000 inhabitants had been killed, with only one 
survivor.

The UN's migration agency estimated that around 150 people have been 
displaced from Tarasin and adjacent villages in the aftermath.

On Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV called for a "coordinated response" to the 
unfolding "humanitarian catastrophe" in Sudan, with its aftermath marked by 
"pain and despair".

Sudan has been devastated by war since April 2023, as battles between the 
army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have killed tens of thousands 
and displaced millions.

Thousands of displaced people have sought refuge in SLM-held areas.

Situated in rugged volcanic terrain southwest of El-Fasher -- the besieged 
capital of North Darfur -- the Jebel Marra region is notoriously difficult to 
access, especially during the rainy season, which peaks in August.

Sudan's General Authority for Geological Research said the region is one of 
the most geologically active areas in Sudan, sitting on a major tectonic belt 
stretching across central and western Sudan.

It warned that recurring landslides in the region could have "catastrophic" 
humanitarian and environmental consequences.