KHARTOUM, April 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 89 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on villages south of Omdurman city, north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, volunteer groups said on Thursday.

The RSF's attacks on 15 villages in the Al-Jamouiya area involved "indiscriminate shelling, direct gunfire, and armed clashes," the Sudanese Emergency Lawyers Initiative said in a statement.

The group condemned the attacks as "horrific massacres" and "a blatant violation of human rights and international law." It called for an immediate halt to the raids, extrajudicial killings, looting, and forced displacement, while urging the opening of safe corridors to evacuate civilians, particularly the wounded, women, and children.

Meanwhile, the Coordination of the Resistance Committees in Karari locality said the RSF's attacks on the Al-Jamouiya villages have been ongoing for seven days.

The Khartoum State government said they have evacuated some residents of the Al-Jamouiya villages to safe areas in Omdurman.

"The militia attacked the defenseless residents of Al-Jamouiya, killed a large number of them, and engaged in looting and displacement as part of its ongoing crimes against civilians," Ahmed Osman Hamza, governor of Khartoum State, was quoted as saying.

The escalation comes after the RSF repositioned its forces in Omdurman in late March, following advances by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The Sudanese army recently recaptured key strategic locations in Khartoum, including the presidential palace, Khartoum International Airport, and the RSF's last stronghold in southern Khartoum.

Meanwhile, the RSF on Thursday said they shot down a Sudanese army air force plane near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state in western Sudan. The RSF accused the Sudanese army air force of conducting aerial attacks on villages, residential neighborhoods, and unarmed civilians, while emphasizing the ability of its air defense unit to counter any aerial threats that endanger civilian lives.

A source, speaking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, said that the plane's crew, consisting of five officers and four soldiers, died in the crash.

Sudan has been embroiled in a devastating conflict between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023, which has claimed at least 29,683 lives, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a crisis monitoring group cited by the United Nations.

The conflict has displaced over 15 million people, both inside and outside Sudan, according to estimates from the International Organization for Migration. Enditem