The Sudanese army and allied militias have pushed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) out of a string of cities south of Sudan's capital. As fighting rages, about 60 people were killed when a busy market in Omdurman was shelled, the army and war monitors said.
The Sudanese army, locked in a civil war with the RSF since April 2023, blamed the strike on the paramilitary group, which denied the allegation. At least 58 people were killed and 158 were injured in the attack on the market. Most of the casualties were women and children, according to monitoring groups.
Omdurman is one of three cities, along with Khartoum and Bahri, that make up the Sudanese capital's greater region. The market lies in an area controlled by the army, which has been on the offensive in the capital to expel the RSF. Casualties from the shelling overwhelmed the nearby Al Nao Hospital, the groups reported.
Doctors Without Borders
"I can see the lives of men, women and children torn apart, with injured people lying in every possible space in the emergency room as medics do what they can," said Chris Lockyear, secretary general of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), after attending the hospital on Saturday.
The army and the RSF have been accused repeatedly of killing civilians. They are also accused of war crimes by the UN and rights groups, while their leaders – army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo – have had sanctions imposed by the US for their role in the civil war, in which tens of thousands have been killed and at least 12 million displaced.
In Al Gezira state, south of the capital, troops and allied militiamen retook the cities of Tamboul, Rufaa, Hasaheisa and Al Hilaliya on Saturday. The army regained control of the state's capital Wad Medani last month, a milestone victory that turned the tide in the fighting in the agriculture-rich region.
Aqla Kaykal, commander of one of the militias aiding the army in Al Gezira, said in footage shared online from Al Hilaliya that the joint force planned to march on the capital, about 200km to the north, to join troops and other militias in their current offensive there.
Mr Kaykal and fighters loyal to him defected from the RSF last year to join the army. He and his men are accused of atrocities against civilians during their time with the RSF and currently while fighting alongside the army.
Besides major sites in the capital, including the presidential palace and the international airport, the RSF controls most of the vast Darfur region in the west, much of Kordofan south-west of the capital, as well as the road between Khartoum and Al Gezira.
The army is in full control of the north and east of the vast Afro-Arab nation.
In the capital, the army-led offensive has made significant advances, retaking most of Bahri and breaking up the siege of key military installations, including armed forces' headquarters in Khartoum and the Signals Corps' base in Bahri. The army is also in control of some parts of Omdurman, including its old district.
Gen Dagalo, meanwhile, has vowed to retake parts of the capital controlled by the army. In a video address posted online, he also sought to lift the morale of his men after their loss of territory in the capital and elsewhere, urging them not to dwell on such losses and focus instead on what they could capture moving forward.
The Sudan war has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 26 million people – more than half the population – facing acute hunger, while pockets of hunger are surfacing in several parts of the country, including the capital region.
Gen Al Burhan and Gen Dagalo are fighting for control of the country. Both claim to be doing so for the benefit of Sudan's 50 million people and profess not to harbour any political ambitions.
