Africa

Dozens killed near Sudan’s capital as UN warns of soaring displacement

Displaced Sudanese families wait to receive food from a charity kitchen in the city of Omdurman on April 6 [El Tayeb Siddig/Reuters]

Dozens killed near Sudan’s capital as UN warns of soaring displacement

Pro-democracy activists in Sudan say about 40 people have been killed in “violent artillery fire” by paramilitary forces in the twin city of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, as fighting and displacement intensify across the war-ravaged country.

The Karari Resistance Committee, one of hundreds of grassroots organisations that coordinate aid across Sudan, said on Friday that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group was behind the deadly attack on Omdurman a day earlier.

“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,” it said, adding that bodies were received by Al Nao university hospital and other private health facilities or were buried by relatives.

The report has come 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 erupted 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.

The deadly assault on the village of Wad al-Noura on Wednesday drew widespread condemnation this week, including from UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russell, who said at least 35 children were reported killed and more than 20 others injured.