An attack on an open market in the Sudanese city of Omdurman by a paramilitary group killed 54 people and wounded at least 158, health authorities said on Saturday.
The attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Sabrein Market was the latest in a series of deadly attacks in the escalated civil war that has wrecked the northeastern African country.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which has been battling the military since April 2023.
Photo:reuters
Sudanese Minister of Culture and Information and government spokesman Khalid al-Aleisir condemned the attack, saying that the casualties included many women and children.
He said the attack caused widespread destruction.
“This criminal act adds to the bloody record of this militia,” he said in a statement. “It constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”
Sudan’s Doctors Syndicate said one mortar shell hit meters away from al-Naw Hospital, which received most of the market casualties.
It said most of the bodies were of women and children, adding that the hospital has a significant shortage of medical teams, especially surgeons and nurses.
Doctors Without Borders secretary-general Chris Lockyear said he was at the hospital when casualties started arriving.
“There are dozens and dozens of people with devastating injuries, the morgue is full of dead bodies. What I see in front of me is a scene of utter carnage, yet another tragic example of this relentless war on people,” he said.
A video posted on social media by correspondent Nezar Bogdawi from Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV showed multiple body bags numbered and lined up outside the hospital. The wounded being treated, some on the hospital floor, included a man with a chest wound, another with a leg injury, and a man with a head wound.
Sudan’s army said in a statement late on Saturday that its forces were able to “expel the remnants” of the RSF from the areas of Rifa’a, Tambul, al-Hilaliya and al-Hasahisa in Gezeira.
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