KHARTOUM: Flames and chaos have plagued the streets of Sudan’s capital as the nation grapples with an unrelenting wave of violence. Witnesses reported that for the second consecutive day, paramilitary forces launched an assault on the army headquarters, while battles with various weaponry continued to escalate in Khartoum.
Reports from Khartoum reveal that intense clashes are currently unfolding around the army headquarters, marked by the exchange of gunfire and the use of diverse weapons. Disturbingly, similar confrontations were reported in El-Obeid, located approximately 350 kilometers (about 220 miles) south of Khartoum.
The struggle between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) reached a distressing height on Saturday, resulting in significant structures in central Khartoum being set ablaze. Heart-wrenching images and videos, verified by AFP news agency, circulated on social media, depicting flames engulfing iconic landmarks of the Khartoum skyline, including the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower—a symbol of the city’s identity.
Destruction of Conflict in Sudan
The conflict, which ignited on April 15 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has inflicted a devastating toll. A conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project suggests that nearly 7,500 lives have been lost, while over five million people have been displaced. Among them, 2.8 million have sought refuge from relentless airstrikes, artillery barrages, and street battles that have relentlessly ravaged Khartoum’s densely populated neighborhoods.
Sunday dawned with the city blanketed in smoke, and the sounds of bombs and gunfire resonating through the capital. Witnesses in the Mayo district of southern Khartoum recounted the ominous echoes of “huge bangs” as the army targeted RSF bases with artillery fire.
Just last week, at least 51 individuals fell victim to airstrikes on a market in Mayo, according to the United Nations, marking one of the deadliest single attacks in the ongoing conflict.
The epicenter of this violence has been concentrated in Khartoum and the western Darfur region. Attacks carried out by the RSF and allied militias have triggered renewed investigations by the International Criminal Court, with a focus on potential war crimes. Southern Kordofan, another region plagued by fighting, witnessed fresh reports on Sunday of artillery exchanges between the army and the RSF in the city of El-Obeid.
