NNA – The Ministry of Health reported ldquo;22 dead and a large number of wounded among the civiliansrdquo; from what it described as an air strike Saturday on Khartoumrsquo;s sister city Omdurman, in the district of Dar al-Salam, which means ldquo;House of Peacerdquo; in Arabic.
After nearly three months ofnbsp;warnbsp;betweennbsp;Sudanrsquo;s rival generals, the air strike is the latest incident to provoke outrage.
Around 3,000 people have been killed in the conflict, survivors have reported a wave of sexual violence and witnesses have spoken of ethnically targeted killings. There has been widespread looting, and the UN warned of possiblenbsp;crimes against humanitynbsp;in the Darfur region.
A video posted by the health ministry on Facebook showed apparently dismembered bodies lying partly covered on the ground after the air strike. Several women were among the victims.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), fighting the regular army, claimed that the ldquo;air strikesrdquo; killed 31.
Since the war began, paramilitaries have established bases in residential areas, and they have been accused of forcing civilians from their homes.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday condemned the air strike in Omdurman, which he said ldquo;reportedly killed at least 22 peoplerdquo; and wounded dozens, his deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement.
Guterres ldquo;remains deeply concerned that the ongoing war between the armed forces has pushed Sudan to the brink of a full-scale civil war, potentially destabilising the entire regionrdquo;, Haq said.
lsquo;Dangerous and disturbingrsquo;
Sudan, in northeast Africa, borders other impoverished countries which have a history of unrest.
Nearly three million people have been uprooted by Sudanrsquo;s fighting, among them almost 700,000 who have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The UN and African blocs have warned of an ldquo;ethnic dimensionrdquo; to the conflict in the western region of Darfur, where the United States, Norway and Britain have blamed the RSF and allied militia for most of the widespread violations.
Concentrated in Darfur and the capital Khartoum, fighting has also been reported in Blue Nile state near Ethiopia, as well as in South Kordofan state.
Overnight Saturday-Sunday residents in El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan and a commercial hub south of Khartoum, reported renewed fighting there.
ldquo;There is an utter disregard for humanitarian and human rights law that is dangerous and disturbing,rdquo; said Haq, expressing support for efforts by the African Union and East African bloc IGAD to end Sudanrsquo;s crisis.
On Monday leaders of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan ndash; IGAD members handling the Sudan file ndash; are to meet in Addis Ababa.
Sudanrsquo;s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have been invited but neither side has confirmed they will attend.
Several Sudanese civilian figures are already there, however, ldquo;in order to accelerate peace efforts,rdquo; said Khalid Omer Yousif, who was fired from the government in 2021 when Daglo and Burhan led a coup, before their falling out.
Numerous ceasefires in the war have been announced and ignored. — AFP
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