This handout image made available by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM), on September 2, 2025, shows people inspecting the debris after a landslide devastated the village of Tarasin in Sudan's Jebel Marra area. A massive landslide in Sudan's western Darfur region has flattened an entire mountain village and killed more than 1,000 people, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM) group said, leaving only one survivor. (Photo by SUDAN LIBERATION MOVEMENT/ARMY / AFP) / NO USE AFTER SEPTEMBER 12, 2025 08:10:44 GMT - NO USE AFTER SEPTEMBER 12, 2025 08:10:44 GMT - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / SUDAN LIBERATION MOVEMENT/ARMY" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - AFP CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY OR LOCATION, DATE, AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. /
A catastrophic landslide has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people in the village of Tarasin, in western Sudan’s Darfur region, according to the Sudan Liberation Movement-Armed Forces (SLM-A).
The disaster, which struck last Sunday, has left the village “completely destroyed,” with only a single survivor reported.
“The landslide was massive and devastating,” the SLM-A said in a statement.
“Preliminary information points to the death of all the village’s inhabitants, estimated at more than a thousand individuals.”
The group has called on the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations to assist in recovering bodies and providing urgent aid.
Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minawi described the event as a “tragedy” of unprecedented scale and urged immediate international intervention. “The tragedy is greater than our people can bear alone,” he stated, highlighting the severity of the situation.
Humanitarian access to the affected areas remains severely restricted due to ongoing conflict in the region.
A civil war between Sudan’s national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began in April 2023, has already displaced over 14 million people and caused tens of thousands of deaths.
The UN has described the ongoing crisis as the “world’s worst humanitarian emergency.”
The village of Tarasin lies in Jebel Marra, an area largely controlled by the SLM-A, which has remained mostly outside the fighting.
However, much of Darfur, including regions near the landslide, is dominated by the RSF, limiting relief operations. Since May 2024, the RSF has been laying siege to El-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur still held by the army, home to approximately 300,000 residents.
The landslide adds to an already dire humanitarian situation in Sudan, where famine has been declared in multiple parts of Darfur. Access to clean water, medical care, and food remains limited, exacerbating the suffering of displaced communities.
Aid organizations are being called upon urgently to support rescue efforts, provide emergency relief, and help address the long-term humanitarian impact of both the natural disaster and the ongoing conflict.
The full scale of the catastrophe in Tarasin may take weeks to assess, with fears that the number of casualties could rise as recovery teams reach remote areas.
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