PH
Sudanese paramilitary forces killed at least 20 people in an attack on a community south of Khartoum, a local activists’ committee reported on Sunday.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) “attacked the village of Um Adam” 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of the capital on Saturday, according to a statement from the local resistance committee, one of several pro-democracy organizations that coordinate aid.
Sudan’s conflict between the military, led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, began on April 15.
According to United Nations experts, thousands of people have been killed, including up to 15,000 in one town in the war-torn Darfur region.
The war has also displaced over 8.5 million people, almost completely wrecked Sudan’s already frail infrastructure, and brought the country to the verge of famine.
According to the statement, Saturday’s incident left “over 200 wounded with both serious and minor injuries, as well as more than 20 martyrs, not all of whom we could tally”.
A medical source at the Manaqil hospital, 80 kilometers distant, confirmed to AFP that they had “received 200 wounded, some of whom arrived too late”.
“We’re facing a shortage of blood and we don’t have enough medical personnel,” he said.
According to the UN, more than 70% of Sudan’s health facilities are out of operation, while those that remain are overburdened and underfunded.
Both parties in the battle have been charged with war crimes, including targeting civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas, and looting and impeding relief.
Since taking over Al-Jazira state just south of Khartoum in December, the RSF has besieged and attacked entire villages, including Um Adam.
According to the UK-based Centre for Information Resilience, by March, at least 108 villages and communities across the country had been set on fire and “partially or completely destroyed”.
