‘Smell of blood’ pervades Nyala as Sudan army and RSF clashes continue

Artillery shelling between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed and injured a number of people in Nyala, capital of South Darfur, yesterday morning. 

A resident of Nyala told Radio Dabanga that the shelling was concentrated in the northern neighbourhoods of Nyala near the army general command, prompting mass displacement from the area since clashes renewed on Friday.  

The resident confirmed that shells fell on civilian gatherings in the Grand Market and inside residential neighbourhoods. At least 20 people were killed by shells and dozens were injured over the weekend, which entered its fourth day yesterday. The RSF reported 43 civilian deaths in the South Darfur capital on Sunday.

“The citizens of Nyala lived through a difficult day on Sunday,” the resident said, especially in the neighbourhoods of Janub El Wadi, Karari, Texas, and Musa. “The smell of blood pervaded the city. All sounds were muted except the sounds of ammunition mingled with children crying and women wailing.”

A number of people were wounded in El Jir yesterday after two shells were fired in an exchange between the SAF and RSF, according to another resident. One of the two shells fell north of the El Shawayat station, wounding a number of people. The other shell did not explode.

The resident of El Jir district of Nyala told Radio Dabanga that the war had taken a heavy human and material toll in Nyala and displaced thousands of Nyala residents. “There is a scarcity of food, high prices, lack of medicine, and patients with chronic diseases suffer,” he said. 

Medical sources told Radio Dabanga that El Wahda South Hospital received 30 casualties, three of whom died, and the Turkish hospital in Nyala also received a similar number of casualties. 

Blood transfusion bags, anaesthesia, gauze, solutions, and suture threads are among the medical supplies that are in critically short supply in Nyala, according to acting director of the South Darfur Ministry of Health Suheiba Mubarak. 

“The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is deeply concerned by reports of deadly clashes in South Darfur in recent days,” said the UN spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric yesterday. She said that the violence in Nyala has led to the displacement of more than 20,000 people from several neighbourhoods around the state capital, according to preliminary reports from the International Organization for Migration.  

The spokesperson added that UN OCHA is “closely monitoring the situation and is working to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to South Darfur. Unfortunately, the clashes are currently hampering any transport of aid into Nyala from East Darfur.” 

Nyala has been witnessing continued clashes between the army and the RSF since the outbreak of the war in April, leading to hundreds of deaths and injuries. The Humanitarian Aid Commission in South Darfur revealed that 296,000 people have been displaced in the state between the outbreak of the war and August 6. The number of displaced people in South Darfur was already more than 515,000 before the war. 

At the start of August, activist Adam Abdelrahman appealed to the youth and civil administration to stand against sexual assaults being reported frequently in specific areas in the Darfur region. 

He added that the escalating security challenges and humanitarian crises demand urgent attention and “effective measures to protect vulnerable communities.”