KHARTOUM: Heavy artillery fire in the conflict-stricken city of Omdurman in Sudan resulted in the tragic death of at least 11 lives and left 90 others injured, according to a statement by the aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) posted on Friday.
The attack occurred in the Karari neighborhood of Omdurman on Thursday, but the responsible party among the warring factions in the country was not specified by MSF. The victims included children, underscoring the devastating impact of the ongoing conflict.
Sudan has been plagued by violence since mid-April, when tensions between the country’s military, led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by General Mohamed Hamden Dagalo, escalated into open fighting. The conflict has since spread to various parts of the country, turning the capital, Khartoum, and neighboring Omdurman into urban battlegrounds. Additionally, the conflict has fueled ethnic violence in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
MSF reported that the injured individuals from Thursday’s attack were treated at Al Nao hospital in Omdurman, one of the medical facilities operated by the organization. Both the military and the Rapid Support Forces have yet to respond to requests for comments regarding the incident.
Dire Situation in Sudan
The situation in Sudan remains dire, with 5.5 million people forcibly displaced from their homes in search of safety and refuge, according to the latest figures from the United Nations. Among these, 4.3 million people are internally displaced within Sudan, and 1.2 million have crossed into neighboring countries. At a news conference held on Thursday, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, emphasized that 18 million people in Sudan urgently require humanitarian assistance. However, aid agencies have only been able to reach approximately 3.6 million individuals in the country so far.
Nkweta-Salami described the situation in Sudan as “the world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis,” emphasizing the precarious position of the Sudanese population. The ongoing conflict has resulted in the deaths of at least 5,000 people and injuries to more than 12,000 others, as reported by the United Nations. Activists and doctors’ groups within the country assert that the actual death toll is significantly higher, underscoring the urgent need for international attention and assistance to address the escalating humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
