Khartoum [Sudan], September 11: At least 40 people were killed and numerous others injured on Sunday after military airstrikes in southern Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, local emergency services said.
According to the offical Facebook page of the South Belt Emergency Room, the strikes occurred at a market in the southern Mayo region of the city.
Victims continue to arrive at the Bashaer Hospital and there have been urgent calls for medical staff, volunteers and blood donations, the statement said.
At least 70 others were injured in the attack in Khartoum's Mayo neighbourhood on Sunday, according to resistance committees and two healthcare workers at the Bashair University Hospital, where the casualties were treated. Many of them will require amputations.
Reporting from Khartoum, Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan said the drone attack was carried out by the Sudanese army. She said it is not clear whether all the victims were civilians, but "there is a dire need for medical assistance for those who have been injured".
Indiscriminate shelling and air attacks by both factions have become common in Sudan's war, which has reduced the greater Khartoum area to a battleground. The attack comes a day after the army's General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan renewed his acceptance of a conditional peace process in the conflict with the paramilitary militia Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
According to Morgan, there are still no talks between the RSF and the Sudanese army after nearly five months of conflict.
Since April, the army under al-Burhan, has been fighting against the RSF, led by Mohammed HamdanDaglo. The two generals had come to power together in a coup but then later fell out over power-sharing.
Neither side has been able to gain the upper hand so far and attempts at peaceful solutions have not proved successful. Talks mediated by the United States and Saudi Arabia were put on hold after several broken ceasefires. Egypt also intervened as a mediator in the conflict.
The country is now heading for a humanitarian catastrophe. According to the United Nations, more than 4 million people have already been displaced by the conflict and more than 4,000 have been killed.
Besides Khartoum, Darfur has also been particularly hard hit by the clashes, which have reignited ethnic hostilities. For decades, the region has been rocked by fighting between various ethnic groups, militias and the Sudanese government.
Source: Qatar Tribune
