23 People Killed, 40 Injured As Sudan’s Army Airstrikes Hit Busy Market

0
217

At least 23 people and more than 40 others have been injured by the Sudanese army airstrikes in the south of the capital, Khartoum.

Saturday’s airstrikes by the army targeted the main camp occupied by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in southern Khartoum, hitting the central market and a nearby residential area.

Traders, shoppers and residents were among the victims.

The RSF has been battling the military in an 18-month civil war that has claimed up to 150,000 lives and displaced a fifth of Sudan’s population, according to UN estimates.

The wounded are being treated in hospital, according to a spokesman from the Nobel Prize-nominated rescue network, Emergency Response Rooms.

Emergency responders report that hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of injured.

Since Friday, fierce fighting has escalated around Khartoum, largely controlled by the RSF, with the military intensifying airstrikes in the city’s centre and southern belt.

Witnesses say the army is advancing towards Khartoum from nearby Omdurman, where clashes erupted on Saturday.

Earlier this week, the Sudanese government presented the UN Security Council with what it called new evidence that the United Arab Emirates is arming and supporting the RSF and called for action against the Gulf state.

The UAE has long denied that it is backing the RSF.

Both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces have been accused of committing atrocities.

“Relentless hostilities across the country have brought misery to millions of civilians, triggering the world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis,” warned the UN last month.

It says Sudan is now “the world’s largest hunger crisis”.