Khartoum, Feb 1 At least 45 civilians were killed and 82 others injured in a shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Saturday on a crowded market in Omdurman, north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, a volunteer group and a medical source said.
"The RSF militia committed a new massacre today (Saturday) with a deliberate bombing of the Sabreen Market in the Karari locality," the Al-Thawra Resistance Committee, a volunteer group, said in a statement.
"So far, 45 civilians have been killed and 82 others injured," the statement added, without providing further details.
Meanwhile, a medical source at Al-Nao Hospital in Omdurman said, "The hospital has received over 24 bodies, along with dozens of injured individuals."
"The situation is catastrophic in every sense of the word. We need blood donors and medical supplies," the source told Xinhua news agency.
It reported that the shelling targetted the Sabreen Market, a major market frequented by residents of the Karari locality in the northernmost part of Omdurman.
The shelling simultaneously targeted residential areas near the market which could lead to the death toll exceeding the reported figures.
No official statement has been issued, and the RSF has not commented on the incident.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) frequently accuses the RSF of bombing the Karari locality from its positions in Bahri, a city in Khartoum State.
Karari is the only area in Omdurman that remains densely populated and fully under army control.
Military confrontations between the SAF and the RSF have intensified recently in Khartoum.
The SAF has recently made significant progress in Khartoum State, reopening its position along the Bahri city axis and liberating several areas, but the city's East Nile area remains a key base for the RSF.
The SAF is also conducting ground operations to end the RSF's control over the Umbada area west of Omdurman, while the RSF continues to control the southern area of Khartoum.
Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023, which claimed at least 29,683 lives and displaced over 15 million people, either inside or outside Sudan, according to the latest estimates by international organisations.
--IANS
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