Sudan: Army Air Strikes Kill at Least 23 in Khartoum Market

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Facts

  • Volunteer rescuers in Sudan reported on Sunday that at least 23 people were killed and 40 others were injured — some in critical condition — as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) carried out an airstrike on a market in the capital, Khartoum, the previous day.[1][2]
  • According to a spokesperson for the Southern Belt Emergency Room, the bombing 'caused massive destruction' around the market area. Shopkeepers, shoppers, and local residents were among the casualties.[3][4]
  • This comes as Sudan's military has resorted to airstrikes in central and southern Khartoum as part of a campaign to reclaim territory in the capital held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that began on Friday.[5][3]
  • The RSF controls much of the capital as well as the western region of Darfur, while Sudan's military controls the eastern border area, from the Red Sea to Ethiopia.[5][6]
  • The overall death toll of the civil war, which broke out in April 2023 from a power struggle between the army and SAF, is highly uncertain — estimated at between 20K and up to 150K according to differing sources — as health and government services have collapsed.[7][5][8]
  • Sudan now faces both the world's largest displacement crisis, with over 8M people internally displaced, and largest hunger crisis, with nearly 25M in need of humanitarian assistance, according to UN data.[8][9][4]

Sources: [1]XINHUA, [2]France 24, [3]Sudan Tribune, [4]BBC News (a), [5]Al Jazeera, [6]Sudanwarmonitor, [7]BBC News (b), [8]Reuters and [9]Situation Reports.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Sudan Tribune. The continued destruction of Khartoum by both the RSF and the SAF is a reminder of the wanton disregard by the country's elite for Sudan's historic and cultural center. There must be hope that, in time, once the dust has settled and the conflict is over a new generation of leadership will break through, seeking to unite rather than destroy the country's very foundations.
  • Narrative B, as provided by The Conversation. It's hard to see a way out of the conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces. Not now, not anytime soon. That's not only because both sides continue to claim victories and inflict losses upon one another, but mainly because this war isn't just about two generals vying for power — especially as they lack control over their followers and allied militias.

Predictions