Fierce fighting between the Sudanese army and the RSF, a paramilitary group, broke out with renewed vigor, officials, activists, and human rights organizations said, in which dozens of people are said to have died over the past two days. Tensions have spiraled in a conflict now into its 20th month, with tens of thousands dead and no indication of relenting.
The situation has worsened because of the increasing airstrikes of the army in RSF-controlled territories, while the RSF fights back using raids and bombardments through heavy artillery. An air assault on a busy market in Kabkabiya, a town of about 180 kilometers west of North Darfur’s capital El Fasher, killed over 100 people and injured hundreds, including women and children, according to the rights group Emergency Lawyers on Monday.
The army has denied the attack, saying it was within its rights to target any place used by the RSF for military activities. The RSF have yet to comment on the incident.
RSF forces opened heavy artillery fire on an army-controlled part of the city of Omdurman, adjacent to Khartoum, on Tuesday. Khartoum Governor Ahmed Othman Hamza said that attack killed at least 65 people and left many more wounded, a “massacre” by what he called “the terrorist militia.” A shell reportedly hit a passenger bus, killing all passengers and dismembering 22.
A source in the capital’s Al-Nao hospital in Omdurman confirmed that 15 dead from the bus attack were brought into the facility, and another seven succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. Another 45 injured from different areas of Omdurman received treatment at the same hospital, which is among the few that remain functional.
The RSF also shelled the famine-stricken Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur on Tuesday, killing five people, according to the Darfur General Coordination of Camps for the Displaced and Refugees. In North Kordofan, six people died when a drone that had crashed on November 26 exploded, according to Emergency Lawyers.
The war broke out in Sudan in April 2023 due to a power struggle between the army and the RSF, which also coincided with attempts at transition to civilian rule. Abuses that may amount to war crimes by both parties, including attacks on civilians, have been documented in a UN fact-finding mission in September.
The violence has displaced 11 million people and caused a severe hunger crisis, the UN reports, with almost 10,000 people fleeing into South Sudan every day, three times the number that crossed the border just weeks ago. The healthcare system-fragile before the conflict-was devastated, with as many as 80 percent of health facilities in affected areas either closed or barely operational, the UN said.
