Sudan’s paramilitary RSF says 31 civilians killed in Omdurman

By Behram Abdelmunim

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) — Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has accused the army of killing 31 civilians in an airstrike in Omdurman city, west of the capital Khartoum.

The RSF "vehemently condemn the deliberate airstrikes conducted by the extremist terrorist militia led by (army chief Abdel Fattah) al-Burhan," the group said in a statement.

“This heinous attack, orchestrated by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) with the support of remnants from the former regime on the residents of Square 22, Dar Al-Salam, Umbada, has resulted in the tragic loss of over 31 lives and numerous civilian injuries,” it added.

The Sudanese army, for its part, said a group of RSF members were killed in a military operation in Omdurman.

A military statement said that a number of armored vehicles were also destroyed.

Sudan has been ravaged by clashes between the army and the RSF since April, in a conflict that killed nearly 3,000 civilians and injured thousands, according to local medics.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that nearly three million people have been displaced by the current conflict in Sudan.

Several cease-fire agreements brokered by Saudi and US mediators between the warring rivals had failed to end violence in the country.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since fall 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency, in a move decried by political forces as a "coup."

The transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, had been scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara