Airstrike on market in Khartoum kills at least 40

Khartoum, Sep 10 (EFE).- At least 40 people were killed Sunday in an airstrike on a popular market south of Khartoum, amid heavy fighting between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, medical sources reported.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the Khartoum South Emergency Room said that “there are still cases arriving at Al Bashair hospital”, so the number of deceased could increase, while they made an urgent appeal to all medical personnel in the area to provide aid to the injured.

Military sources told EFE that paramilitary drones are launching projectiles against crowds of civilians “with the aim of blaming the Army forces”.

The Armed Forces said in a statement that their fighter planes had bombed a building where FAR units were stationed in the vicinity of the military base of Armored Corps, south of Khartoum, on Sunday morning.

The airstrike resulted in “the destruction of the building where dozens of FAR members were gathered” and the death of “a large number of rebels”, according to the statement, which added that the paramilitaries intended to attack the base.

That facility has been the scene of intense clashes between the two sides in recent weeks.

The fighting has intensified in recent days in Khartoum, the main stronghold of the army in Sudan, despite the fact that the military leader, General Abdelfatah al Burhan, has said on several occasions that his troops have managed to quell the uprising launched by the RSF on April 15.

Al Burhan has made visits to Egypt, South Sudan and Qatar in recent days to gather political support and seek sources of funding for the reconstruction of the country, whose vital infrastructure has been severely damaged by the fighting.

So far, the conflict has left between 1,000 and 5,000 people dead, according to different statistics, while it has displaced more than 5.1 million people inside and outside Sudan, according to the UN, which notes that almost 70% of the people who have had to leave their homes are from Khartoum. EFE

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