At least 28 people were killed in Sudan during an attack by paramilitary forces on a village south of Khartoum, two Sudanese pro-democracy organizations reported on Sunday April 7. The Rapid Support Forces (FSR), at war with the regular army for a year, have “attacked the village of Um Adam”, 150 km south of Khartoum, said the Local Resistance Committee, an organization which manages mutual aid between residents.
The attack carried out on Saturday left at least 28 dead, “innocent villagers”as well as 240 injured, declared the Committee of Sudanese Doctors, another independent organization. “There are a number of dead and injured that we have not been able to count due to their inability to reach health centers and monitoring difficulties amid the shooting”added this organization, denouncing a “massacre committed by the FSR”.
The local Resistance Committee, for its part, reported on Sunday morning “more than 200 injured, some seriously and others lightly, and more than 20 martyrs”, before reviewing the number of deaths at 25 in the middle of the day. A medical source at Manaqil hospital, 80 km away, told AFP on Sunday morning that they had “received 200 wounded”, specifying that “some arrived too late”. “We are facing a shortage of blood and we do not have enough medical staff”she warned.
The war in Sudan began on April 15, 2023 between the army, under the command of General Abdel Fattah Al-Bourhane, and the RSF, led by his former deputy, General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo. It left thousands dead and displaced more than 8.5 million people, according to the UN. It also largely destroyed the country’s infrastructure, pushing it to the brink of famine. More than 70% of Sudan’s health facilities are out of service, according to the UN, while those that are functioning are receiving several times their capacity with very few resources.
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including targeting civilians, indiscriminate bombing of residential areas, and looting and obstructing humanitarian aid. Since taking control of Gezira state, near Khartoum, in December, the RSF have besieged and attacked entire villages like Um Adam. By March, at least 108 villages and communities across the country had been burned and “partially or completely destroyed”according to the Center for Information Resilience, a network of independent investigators based in the United Kingdom.