UN: Deadly attacks on civilians in Sudan must stop

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On February 2nd the United Nations denounced a series of attacks on civilians across Sudan, including the shelling of a market in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, which left at least 60 people dead, The New Arab and agencies reported.

The shelling of Sabreen market and nearby residential areas in Omdurman occurred on February 1st. Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the United Nations resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, described them as “horrific” and “indiscriminate.”

Pro-democracy lawyers reported that artillery fire from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) struck the market in Omdurman, an area controlled by the army.

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Meanwhile, in the capital across the Nile, an airstrike on an RSF-held district killed two civilians and injured dozens, according to rescue workers.

Since April 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been engaged in an intense power struggle, with fighting escalating this month as the military attempts to regain control of the capital. The resulting turmoil has led to accusations of genocide, as well as uncertainty over the perpetrators of major attacks, with both sides deflecting blame onto each other.

Nkweta-Salami also condemned reports of civilian killings between January 30th and February 1st  in North Kordofan province in southern Sudan, as well as in Darfur, a vast region in the west.

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On January 30th, the army announced it had recaptured the strategically important city of Umm Rawaba in North Kordofan from paramilitary forces that had held it since May 2023.

Eyewitnesses said RSF artillery and rocket fire struck El-Obeid, North Kordofan’s capital, on February 1st, igniting multiple homes.

The Darfur General Coordination of Camps for the Displaced and Refugees, a civil society group, accused the army on January 30th of conducting airstrikes on Manawashi, a town 78 kilometres north of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

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Activists reported that on January 30th, RSF forces in North Darfur attacked areas west of Al-Fashir, the state’s besieged capital, looting homes, killing civilians, and forcing mass displacements. 

Both the RSF and the Sudanese military have faced repeated accusations of targeting civilians and shelling residential areas indiscriminately.

“The suffering of Sudanese civilians has gone on for too long,” Nkweta-Salami said. “It’s long past time to end this war.”

The New Arab and agencies

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