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STORY: The International Criminal Court has launched an investigation into a surge in hostilities in Sudan’s Darfur region, the court’s top prosecutor told the United Nations on Thursday (July 13).

That includes reports of killings, rapes, arson, displacement and crimes affecting children.

Ethnically motivated violence has escalated in Darfur since mid-April.

That's after a power struggle exploded between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.

In a report to the U.N. Security Council, the ICC's Prosecutor Karim Khan confirmed investigations covering crimes in various parts of Darfur.

That includes the West Darfur city El Geneina.

There witnesses have reported waves of attacks by Arab militias and the RSF against the non-Arab Masalit people.

On Thursday the U.N.'s human rights office said at least 87 people, including ethnic Masalits, were buried in what it described as a mass grave in West Darfur.

It added that there was credible information that the Rapid Support Forces were responsible.

RSF officials denied any involvement, saying the group was not a party to the conflict in West Darfur.

The RSF was formed out of the "Janjaweed" militia that helped the government crush a rebellion by mostly non-Arab groups, starting in 2003.

The ICC report said it cannot currently work in Sudan due to the security situation but that it intends to do so as soon as possible.

Under a 2005 U.N. Security Council resolution, the ICC's jurisdiction is limited to the Darfur region.