At least 54 people killed in Sudan in RSF attack on market, health ministry says

At least 54 people were killed and 158 wounded in an attack by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a crowded market in Omdurman, the health ministry said on Saturday.

Witnesses described scenes of devastation as shells rained down on the vegetable market, causing mass casualties. “The shells fell in the middle of the market—that’s why the victims and the wounded are so many,” a survivor told AFP.

Al-Nao Hospital, one of the last functioning medical centers in the area, is struggling to treat the wounded. A volunteer at the hospital pleaded for “shrouds, blood donors, and stretchers” to help with the influx of victims.

The attack comes as Sudan’s brutal civil war enters its 22nd month. The RSF and the Sudanese army have been locked in a deadly power struggle since April 2023, displacing over 12 million people and pushing half the population into hunger.

Worsening humanitarian crisis

Eyewitnesses reported that Saturday’s shelling originated from RSF-controlled areas in western Omdurman and was supported by drone strikes. One resident said, “Rockets and artillery shells are falling across multiple streets.”

The assault occurred a day after RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo vowed to retake the capital from the army, declaring, “We expelled them before, and we will expel them again.”

Since the war began, at least 26,000 people have been killed in the capital alone, according to The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Millions have fled Khartoum, leaving behind a city devastated by constant shelling, starvation, and disease.

Famine and international sanctions

The ongoing conflict has plunged Sudan into a severe food crisis. The UN estimates at least 106,000 people are facing famine in Khartoum, while 3.2 million are suffering crisis levels of hunger.

Famine has already been declared in five areas, mostly in Darfur, with five more regions expected to follow by May.

The situation has prompted global concern, with both Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Daglo facing US sanctions for human rights violations and war crimes.

As fighting continues, civilians trapped in Sudan’s war zones are bearing the brunt of relentless attacks and growing humanitarian despair.