Khartoum, Dec 11 (IANS) At least 65 civilians were killed in an artillery attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Omdurman city, north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, Khartoum State government announced.
“The terrorist militia committed today (Tuesday) the largest human massacre through artillery shelling targeting citizens in Karari locality, killing over 65 people and injuring hundreds of others who crowded the hospitals,” Khartoum State’s press office said in a statement.
According to the statement, Ahmed Osman Hamza, governor of the Khartoum State, visited the targeted areas, including the Karari locality bus station in northern Omdurman, where a shelling strike on a passenger bus killed 22 people, Xinhua news agency reported .
The rest of the victims fell in a simultaneous shelling that targeted a market near the bus station and a health centre, it noted.
The governor condemned the RSF for targeting defenceless citizens, saying “this attack aims to terrorise and frighten the citizens to leave the safe areas,” according to the statement.
He called on the international community and organisations to play their role in protecting civilians who are directly targeted by the “militia” inside their homes, markets and medical institutions.
Fath Al-Rahman Mohamed Al-Amin, director general of Khartoum State’s health authorities, said “hospitals in Omdurman continue to receive victims who are either dead or injured, while health workers are making strenuous efforts to save the lives of the injured and provide health care.”
The RSF has not yet issued any comment on the incident.
Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF since mid-April 2023.
The deadly conflict has resulted in more than 27,120 deaths and displaced over 14 million people, either inside or outside Sudan, according to estimates by international organisations.
–IANS
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