At least 21 people have been killed and 70 others injured in an artillery attack by Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a market in the southeastern town of Sennar, as part of fighting with the army for control of the town.
The death toll was confirmed by the NGO Sudanese Doctors Network, although sources consulted by the newspaper ‘Sudane Tribune’ said the death toll could exceed 150, as the gunfire hit the vegetable and fish market, a public transport station and residential areas.
The bombing came in response to army air strikes on paramilitary positions in the south and west of Sennar state, whose capital, Singa, was taken by the RSF at the end of June.
In addition to the aforementioned city, the RSF has recently stepped up its offensives on the cities of Omdurman and El Fasher, the latter capital of North Darfur state.
HRW DENUNCES THE ACQUISITION OF FOREIGN MODERN WEAPONS
The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) has denounced that both sides, which it considers responsible for war crimes and “other atrocities”, have recently acquired new weapons and modern military equipment made abroad, according to an investigation based on videos published by combatants from both sides.
“Sudan’s conflict is one of the world’s worst humanitarian and human rights crises, with warring parties committing atrocities with impunity and new weapons and equipment being acquired likely to be used to commit new crimes,” said Jean-Baptiste Gallopin, senior researcher on crises, conflicts and weapons at HRW.
The NGO’s analysis has shown that this weaponry, which includes drones, drone jammers, anti-tank guided missiles, rocket launchers and mortar ammunition, has been manufactured in China, Iran, Russia, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), although it has not been possible to determine how this equipment was acquired.
This is why the UN Security Council has been urged to renew and extend the arms embargo and restrictions from the Darfur region to the entire country during the vote on 11 September.
“The sanctions regime was established in 2004, when Darfur was the epicentre of a conflict with widespread human rights violations, war crimes and ethnic cleansing. Since April 2023, the new conflict affects most of Sudan’s states, but Security Council members have not yet taken steps to extend the arms embargo to the entire country,” HRW added.
The conflict between the RSF and the army erupted in April 2023 amid heightened tensions over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces, a key part of an agreement to form a new civilian government and revive the open transition following the 2019 overthrow of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, damaged by the coup d’état of October 2021, in which the Prime Minister of Unity, Abdallah Hamdok, was overthrown.