WAD MADANI: At least 10 people were killed in a paramilitary attack on Jabal Awliya, located to the south of Khartoum, on Thursday, reported activists. The incident comes as the death toll from Sudan’s six-month-long conflict has now exceeded 9,000.
In this small town, approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the capital, residents endured the horror of bombs striking civilian homes, according to the local ‘resistance committee.’ These committees, initially organized to coordinate pro-democracy protests, have shifted their focus to providing aid and support to those affected by the ongoing conflict since the war erupted on April 15, pitting the army against paramilitary groups.
The committee in Jabal Awliya described the paramilitaries’ deployment of “heavy artillery” in their latest attack, targeting areas that had previously been spared from the fighting between Sudan’s rival military leaders.
Sudan Conflict
The conflict, primarily centered in Khartoum and the western region of Darfur, has been waged between the army’s chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). By October, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) had recorded “more than 9,000 fatalities.” It’s worth noting that these estimates are considered conservative.
The impact of the war has been devastating, with nearly 4.3 million people displaced within Sudan and an additional 1.2 million seeking refuge in neighboring countries. In recent weeks, the violence has expanded further south, endangering the safety of over 366,000 individuals who have sought shelter in Al Jazira state, just south of the capital.
Reports indicate that RSF forces have established checkpoints along the road between Khartoum and the state capital of Wad Madani, situated 200 kilometers (125 miles) to the south. Khartoum itself, with millions of residents trapped in the midst of the conflict, has not experienced a single day of respite since the war’s inception. Witnesses in the northern part of the city continue to report artillery fire and street battles on Saturday.
