Fierce fighting reported in Sudan’s central cities

KHARTOUM / OMDURMAN / KHARTOUM NORTH – July 18, 2023

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Heavy bombing in Sudan’s central cities by the Sudanese Air Force whilst the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) respond with anti-aircraft missiles. Civilian deaths and injuries have been reported as a result of the intensified fighting, which is seriously impacting already-troubled healthcare facilities.

The Sudanese air force continued their bombardment of neighbourhoods in the cities of Khartoum state yesterday, in particular in Hillet Hamad and El Haj Yousef in Khartoum North (Bahri), Burri in Khartoum, and the centre and the southern part of Omdurman.

Residents of the densely populated Haj Yousef neighbourhoods said that heavy bombing and shelling began yesterday morning and continued through the day, trapping people inside their homes.

The Sudanese air force had also bombed RSF positions in Khartoum, Omdurman, and in El Jereif East in Khartoum North on Sunday morning.

The RSF, entrenched in the neighbourhoods of the three cities responded using anti-aircraft guns.

The RSF announced “the implementation of a qualitative operation” at the Wadi Sedna army base in Omdurman yesterday, “which led to the destruction of two MiGs and one Antonov, and a huge warehouse burning to ashes”.

A group of pilots managed to escape moments after the base caught fire, the RSF said in a statement on social media.

Journalist and political analyst Osman Mirghani told Al Hadath satellite TV on Friday that the intensified attacks of the SAF on RSF sites in the capital indicate that they may (re)start negotiations soon.

Injuries and healthcare

The Karari Resistance Committees Coordination in Omdurman reported the death of five people in El Sabeel in Ombadda on Sunday when two anti-aircraft missiles hit their homes. “Many others were seriously injured and are now being treated in the emergency room in the El Rashideen neighbourhood.”

The resistance committees explained that the emergency room of Ombadda El Sabeel was “temporarily moved to El Rashideen because of the constant shelling”.

Between July 2 and 10, the emergency room at Omdurman’s El Nao Hospital in the large El Sawra neighbourhood in Omdurman received 397 people with severe injuries, including 314 with gunshot wounds.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported the escalation of fighting in Khartoum and Omdurman over the past two weeks. This is leading to a significant shortage of staff and supplies in Sudan’s hospitals as violence prevents healthcare workers from accessing facilities.

Last week, only six nurses and two doctors worked at El Nao Hospital on a 32-hour shift to treat the wounded and provide medical services to the injured.

Military Hospital

Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health accused the RSF of targeting the Aliaa Specialised Hospital, located at the premises of the Military Hospital in Omdurman, with artillery shelling on Sunday afternoon. The ministry said in a statement that the shelling caused significant damage to the dialysis centre, intensive care unit, and operating rooms. Three patients were injured.

On Saturday, the SAF also accused the RSF of attacking the Military Hospital in Omdurman, with drones, killing five patients and wounding 22, most of them civilians. Ousted dictator Omar Al Bashir is reportedly located in that hospital.