The International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating a surge in hostilities in Sudan's Darfur region since mid-April, including reports of killings, rapes, and crimes affecting children, the top prosecutor told the United Nations on Thursday.
The regular army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been battling in the capital Khartoum and other areas of Sudan in a power struggle that exploded in mid-April.
ICC prosecutors are "closely tracking reports of extrajudicial killings, burning of homes and markets, and looting, in Al Geneina, West Darfur, as well as the killing and displacement of civilians in North Darfur and other locations across Darfur," the report said.
It is also examining "allegations of sexual and gender-based crimes, including mass rapes and alleged reports of violence against and affecting children," it said.
In April, the ICC opened its first trial dealing with Darfur crimes in the case of alleged Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman.
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