Dozens killed near Sudanese capital: UN warns of increasing displacement | Conflict news

The attack in Khartoum’s twin city Omdurman occurred while the number of internally displaced people in Sudan is almost 10 million, according to the UN.

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

The Karari Resistance Committee, one of hundreds of grassroots organizations coordinating relief efforts in 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 on social media.

“The exact number of victims is not yet known,” the statement said. The bodies were housed in Al Nao University Hospital and other private health facilities or buried by relatives.

The report came just days after local activists said at least 100 people were killed in an RSF attack on a village in central Sudan’s Gezira state.

In mid-April 2023, a war broke out in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary RSF, triggering the world’s largest refugee crisis, according to United Nations estimates, and claiming the lives of at least 15,500 people.

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

“This is another grim reminder of how Sudan’s children are paying the price for brutal violence,” Russell said in a statement on Thursday.

“Last year, thousands of children were killed or injured. Children were recruited, abducted and subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence. Over five million children were displaced from their homes.”

Fighting continues, including in the capital Khartoum. Both sides are accused of war crimes, including targeted attacks on civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid.

Another hotspot 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 the health system and other services have also collapsed.

“Major roads out of el-Fasher are blocked, preventing civilians from reaching safer areas. At the same time, the amount of food and other humanitarian aid reaching the city is limited,” said Othman Belbeisi, IOM Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, on Thursday.

The IOM also warned that the number of internally displaced people in Sudan could soon exceed the ten million mark.

According to the agency, 9.9 million people have been declared internally displaced in the country’s 18 states; more than half of them are women and more than a quarter are children under the age of five.

“Imagine a city the size of London being displaced. That’s how it is, but it is happening under the constant threat of crossfire, famine, disease and brutal ethnic and gender-based violence,” said IOM Director-General Amy Pope.