The Emergency Lawyers, who have been documenting human rights abuses during the now 20-month-old war between the army and rival paramilitaries, said the attacks in Um Al-Qura in eastern Al-Jazira began last week as the army advanced through the state.

On Saturday, the military recaptured the state capital, Wad Madani, pushing out the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who had dominated Al-Jazira since December 2023.

The lawyers' group on Monday accused the army and allied militias of detaining "a number of civilians, including women", in what they described as a part of campaigns targeting ethnic and regional communities accused of collaborating with the RSF.

They said that the assaults included "extrajudicial killing... kidnapping as well as physical and psychological humiliation and torture".

Both the army and the RSF have been accused of war crimes, including targeting civilians and indiscriminately shelling residential areas.

Though the RSF has become notorious for alleged ethnic-based violence -- leading the United States last week to accuse it of genocide -- reports have also emerged of civilians being racially targeted in army-controlled areas.

The army on Tuesday attributed the attacks to "individual violations" and pledged to hold those responsible accountable.

It also accused unnamed groups of exploiting these incidents to blame the military while ignoring what it said were "ongoing and horrific war crimes" committed by the RSF.

Villages such as Kambo Tayba -- where the attacks occurred -- are home to communities called Kanabi, residents of informal settlements who according to the Emergency Lawyers have faced hate speech as well as accusations of aiding the RSF.

Since April 2023, Sudan has been devastated by a war that has pitted army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the RSF.

The war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted over 12 million and pushed the country to the brink of famine, in what the United Nations describes as one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.