At least 17 dead, including five children, in a new airstrike in the south of the capital of Sudan

June 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –

At least 17 people have died, including five children, as a result of a new bombardment that occurred in a neighborhood in the capital of Sudan, Khartoum, in the context of fighting between the Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

This bombardment took place in the midst of a wave of air strikes that occurred in recent hours in and around the country’s capital, which would have left approximately twelve fatalities until this new incident: four in the Al Qadisiyah neighborhood, in the capital, and another eight in the neighboring city of Omdurman.

Now, the capital’s health authorities have confirmed this new attack, which occurred specifically against a residential area in the Yarmouk neighborhood, and which has destroyed at least 25 homes, according to the statement, which did not identify those responsible for the bombing.

Since the outbreak of the conflict on April 15, more than 950 civilians have died and nearly 4,750 have been injured, according to the latest balance provided by the Sudan Doctors Union.

Despite international pressure for the warring parties to declare a permanent ceasefire and protect civilians, attacks against them have not stopped. Both the RSF and the Army have assured that they are not the cause of the attacks, and have accused the opposite side of it.

At the beginning of May, talks – mediated by the United States and Saudi Arabia – began between both factions in the Saudi city of Jeddah and resulted in a declaration of commitment on the protection of civilians and two brief truces, although all of them have repeatedly violated by the parties to the conflict.

The hostilities broke out in the context of an increase in tensions around the integration of the RSF into the Armed Forces, a key part of an agreement signed in December to form a new civilian government and reactivate the transition open after the overthrow in 2019 of the then president, Omar Hasan al Bashir, damaged by the coup in October 2021, in which the prime minister of unity, Abdalá Hamdok, was overthrown.

However, the refusal of the RSF leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’, to the conditions of this reintegration led to tensions that caused postponements in the formation of the new transitional government.