The attack in Omdurman, Khartoum's sister city, comes as the UN says internal displacement across Sudan is approaching 10 million.
Pro-democracy activists in Sudan say around 40 people have been killed in “violent artillery fire” by paramilitary forces in the Sudanese capital's twin city, Khartoum, as fighting and displacement intensifies across the war-ravaged country. war.
The Karari Resistance Committee, one of hundreds of grassroots organizations coordinating aid across Sudan, said on Friday that the group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was behind the deadly attack on Omdurman the previous day.
“So far, the death toll is estimated at 40 civilians and there are more than 50 injured, some seriously,” the Karari Resistance Committee said in a statement posted on social media.
“There is still no precise count of the number of victims,” he said, adding that the bodies were received at Al Nao University Hospital and other private health facilities or were buried by relatives.
The report comes just days after an RSF attack on a village in Sudan's central Gezira state killed at least 100 people, according to local activists.
War broke out in Sudan in mid-April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary RSF, creating the world's largest displacement crisis and leaving at least 15,500 people dead, according to United Nations estimates.
Wednesday's deadly attack in the village of Wad al-Noura sparked widespread condemnation this week, including from UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, who said at least 35 children were reported dead and more than 20 injured. injured.
“This is another grim reminder of how Sudan's children are paying the price for brutal violence,” Russell said in a statement Thursday.
“Over the past year, thousands of children have been killed and injured. Children have been recruited, kidnapped and subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence. “More than five million children have been forced to leave their homes.”
Fighting continues daily, including in the capital Khartoum, and both sides are accused of war crimes, including deliberate attacks on civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid.
Another flashpoint is the town of el-Fasher in Sudan's North Darfur region, where RSF paramilitary forces recently launched a deadly attack.
According to the United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 800,000 civilians are trapped in el-Fasher as violence rages, and health and other services have collapsed.
“Crucial roads out of El Fasher are blocked, preventing civilians from reaching safer areas while limiting the amount of food and other humanitarian aid reaching the city,” said Othman Belbeisi, director IOM regional office for the Middle East and North. Africa, he said Thursday.
The IOM also warned that internal displacement in Sudan could soon exceed 10 million.
The agency said 9.9 million people were internally displaced in the country's 18 states; More than half of the displaced are women and more than a quarter are children under five years of age.
“Imagine a city the size of London being displaced. That's right, but it happens under the constant threat of crossfire, famine, disease and brutal ethnic and gender violence,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope.
