At least 22 people were killed and scores injured in an air strike by Sudan’s army on western Omdurman, the Khartoum state health ministry said on Saturday, as the war between the country’s military factions entered its 12th week.

While the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) quickly dominated the capital Khartoum and its sister cities Omdurman and Bahri after fighting broke out on April 15, the army launched air and artillery strikes.

The fighting, for which no mediation efforts have succeeded thus far, threatens to drag the country into a wider civil war, drawing in other internal and external actors in the East African nation that lies between the Horn of Africa, Sahel, and the Red Sea.

Tensions between both sides had grown in the months leading up to the war over the chain of command and integration of their forces under a new transition to democracy.

At least 1,133 people have been killed in the fighting, according to the federal health ministry, which has flared in the capital and the Kordofan and Darfur regions, sparking ethnic violence in West Darfur state.

More than 2.9 million people have been uprooted, including nearly 700,000 who have fled to neighbouring countries.

The strife has also caused “alarming numbers” of rape and abduction of women and girls, according to aid agencies.

Fighting has focused on Omdurman in recent days, as the western part of the city is a key supply route for the RSF to bring reinforcements in from Darfur, its power base.

Strikes, including overnight on Friday, have also centered on the country’s state broadcasting complex in eastern Omdurman. Other overnight strikes hit southern and eastern Khartoum.

The army said in a post on Facebook that special forces had killed 20 “rebel soldiers” and destroyed their weaponry.

Opinion

Editorial

Mercury rising
27 May, 2024

Mercury rising

SHOULD we expect a political heatwave this summer? The climate seems to be rather conducive to it. The two largest...
Antibiotic overuse
27 May, 2024

Antibiotic overuse

ANTIMICROBIAL resistance is an escalating crisis claiming some 700,000 lives annually in Pakistan. It is the third...
World Cup team
27 May, 2024

World Cup team

PAKISTAN waited until the very end to name their T20 World Cup squad. Even then, there was last-minute drama. Four...
ICJ rebuke
Updated 26 May, 2024

ICJ rebuke

The reason for Israel’s criminal behaviour is that it is protected by its powerful Western friends.
Hot spells
26 May, 2024

Hot spells

WITH Pakistan already dealing with a heatwave that has affected 26 districts since May 21, word from the climate...
Defiant stance
26 May, 2024

Defiant stance

AT a time when the country is in talks with the IMF for a medium-term loan crucial to bolstering the fragile ...