Sudan conflict: Rockets, shells kill 20 civilians

Darfur region has experienced some of the worst violence in its history since mid-April. (Photo/AFP Archive)

At least 20 Sudanese civilians have been killed by rocket fire on residential areas of one of Darfur's main cities and by shelling near hospitals in North Kordofan state, lawyers and medics said.

The doctors' union said on Saturday that since Friday morning shells had struck near four hospitals in the North Kordofan state capital El Obeid, killing four civilians and wounding 45.

In the South Darfur state capital Nyala, the local lawyers' union said that rocket fire had killed 16 civilians.

The Darfur region, already ravaged by brutal conflict in the early 2000s, has seen some of the worst of the violence since fighting erupted in mid-April between Sudanese rival generals vying for power.

"During an exchange of rocket fire between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), 16 civilians were killed on Friday, according to a preliminary toll," the lawyers' union said.

And at least one man was killed by a sniper, it added.

In the West Darfur capital of El Geneina, near Chad, snipers have reportedly been targeting residents from rooftops since fighting began, and tens of thousands have fled across the border.

The war, which broke out in the capital Khartoum on April 15 and spread to Darfur later that month, has left at least 3,000 dead across Sudan, according to a conservative estimate.

Battlefield expansion

Analysts say both warring sides would like to see the battlefield expand.

"The RSF has held the upper hand in Khartoum since the early days of the war, but that advantage is only growing more apparent," the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank said.

The army on July 15 launched a major offensive in North Khartoum, flattening entire suburban neighbourhoods with air raids, "but it failed spectacularly", the ICG said.

The RSF, meanwhile, are trying to seize the main Darfur-Khartoum road to ensure a constant supply of fighters and weapons.

Both Burhan and Dagalo have representatives in Saudi Arabia, where truce talks have, in theory, been taking place.

But on Friday, the government in Khartoum denied "any information concerning a near truce".

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Source: TRT