Fighting between Sudanese army soldiers and paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) yesterday continued in Omdurman, while the clashes in Khartoum expanded. At least 14 civilians were killed. In the North Kordofan capital of El Obeid an unknown number of people died in renewed fighting between the two warring parties.

Warplanes continued to bomb RSF positions in the eastern and southern parts of Khartoum on Thursday morning. The Soba neighbourhood in the south-eastern part of the city was targeted in particular by the air force.

The spokesperson for the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said in a statement yesterday that several paramilitaries were killed and wounded in El Ushra in southern Khartoum. Four RSF combat vehicles were destroyed.

According to the statement, the army continues to comb the capital’s neighbourhoods where RSF troops are concentrated.

Soldiers confronted RSF members in Abu Adam in southwest Khartoum, where “a number of deaths and injuries fell”. They destroyed five RSF cars and seized three other vehicles.

The spokesperson also reported the army’s control of Jebel Awlia, which is the southern entrance to the capital.

“Special SAF work teams seized a large number of weapons hidden in a house belonging to the RSF,” the statement said, mentioning a DShK machine gun, 12 Goryunov machine guns, and a large number of automatic rifles.

On Wednesday, the army accused the RSF of killing 14 people and wounding 15 others on the border between the El Azuzab and Wad Ajeeb neighbourhoods in southern Khartoum, when they left their homes to salute army soldiers.

Warplanes also bombed the northern and southern parts of Omdurman. El Fitihab and El Mohandesin neighbourhoods, south of the city centre, witnessed fierce fighting.

Markets

A trader at the large Libya Market in western Omdurman told Radio Dabanga that “armed men continue to plunder the shops, and offer the stolen goods for sale in other places in the city”.

“Fortunately, most of us have transferred the merchandise to their homes since the start of the attacks on markets,” he said. “They now come to their shops with only a small amount of goods to display.”

The trader described the situation as bad. “The bandits threaten us, take their money, and beat those who protest.”

In early May, the Ansar Affairs Authority in Omdurman issued a fatwa against theft and specified how to deal with stolen items amidst increasing looting in the capital.

El Obeid

Speaking to Radio Dabanga from the North Kodofan capital, a medic reported that the battles between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF in the city resumed early on Thursday morning.

“Warplanes bombed the parts of the city where the RSF troops are located, and both parties used heavy artillery,” he said.

“The El Obeid Teaching Hospital received the body of a 12-year-old child and five wounded people from the El Safaa neighbourhood, but we all know that others may have been killed and injured but could not be transported to the hospital because of the fighting.”

Other sources confirmed that the air force bombed RSF sites in the western and southern parts of the city. They said that the RSF reacted by directing Katyusha rocket launchers at the El Safa and El Wehda neighbourhoods and the airport.

They also reported that army soldiers emptied the El Obeid Grand Market of people later in the morning. Six houses in the east of El Obeid were damaged by missiles.