Sudan is on the brink of a “full-scale civil war” that could destabilise the entire region, the United Nations has warned, after an airstrike on a residential area killed about two dozen civilians.
The health ministry reported “22 dead and a large number of wounded among the civilians” from the strike on Khartoum’s sister city Omdurman, in the district of Dar al-Salam.
Rapid Support Forces (RSF), fighting the regular army, claimed the strike killed 31 and blamed the military for it. The military denied the accusation, saying in a statement on Sunday that its air force did not carry out any airstrikes in the city the previous day.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Sunday condemned the airstrike in Omdurman, a city just across the Nile from the Khartoum, saying it “reportedly killed at least 22 people” and wounded dozens, his deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement.
Guterres “remains deeply concerned that the ongoing war between the armed forces has pushed Sudan to the brink of a full-scale civil war, potentially destabilising the entire region”, Haq said.
“There is an utter disregard for humanitarian and human rights law that is dangerous and disturbing.”
There were clashes between the military and the RSF elsewhere in Sudan on Sunday, including in the states of North Kordofan, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Nearly 3 million people have been uprooted by Sudan’s fighting, among them almost 700,000 who have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the International Organisation for Migration.