Sudan is on the brink of a “full-scale civil war” that could destabilise the entire region, the United Nations has warned, after an airstrike on a residential area killed about two dozen civilians.
The health ministry reported “22 dead and a large number of wounded among the civilians” from the strike on Khartoum’s sister city Omdurman, in the district of Dar al-Salam.
After nearly three months of war between Sudan’s rival generals, the airstrike is the latest incident to provoke outrage. At least 3,000 people have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the conflict, survivors have reported a wave of sexual violence and witnesses have spoken of ethnically targeted killings. There has been widespread looting, and the UN warned of possible crimes against humanity in the Darfur region.
A video posted by the health ministry on Facebook showed apparently lifeless bodies after the airstrike on Saturday, including several women. The narrator says residents “counted 22 dead”.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), fighting the regular army, claimed the strike killed 31 and blamed the military for it. The military denied the accusation, saying in a statement on Sunday that its air force did not carry out any airstrikes in the city the previous day.
Since the war began, paramilitaries have established bases in residential areas, and they have been accused of forcing civilians from their homes.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Sunday condemned the airstrike in Omdurman, a city just across the Nile from the Khartoum, saying it “reportedly killed at least 22 people” and wounded dozens, his deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement.
Guterres “remains deeply concerned that the ongoing war between the armed forces has pushed Sudan to the brink of a full-scale civil war, potentially destabilising the entire region”, Haq said.
“There is an utter disregard for humanitarian and human rights law that is dangerous and disturbing.”
There were clashes between the military and the RSF elsewhere in Sudan on Sunday, including in the states of North Kordofan, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Nearly 3 million people have been uprooted by Sudan’s fighting, among them almost 700,000 who have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the International Organisation for Migration.
The UN and African blocs have warned of an “ethnic dimension” to the conflict in the western region of Darfur, where the US, Norway and the UK have blamed the RSF and allied militia for most of the widespread violations.
Haq expressed support for efforts by the African Union and east African bloc Igad to end Sudan’s crisis.
On Monday leaders of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan – Igad members handling the Sudan file – are to meet in Addis Ababa.
Sudan’s army chief, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF commander, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, have been invited but neither side has confirmed they will attend.
Numerous ceasefires in the war have been announced and ignored.
With Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
