The United Nations has expressed deep concern over the rising civilian death toll in Khartoum, where intense fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues to devastate the capital.
According to UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango, recent shelling and airstrikes by both SAF and RSF have resulted in dozens of civilian deaths, including humanitarian workers, in eastern Khartoum and northern Omdurman since March 12.
“We are receiving troubling reports of escalating violence against civilians in Khartoum, amid continued intense hostilities,” Magango said in a statement on Thursday.
The UN also reported that RSF fighters and allied militias have been raiding homes in eastern Khartoum, engaging in summary executions, arbitrary detentions, and looting of medical and food supplies. Additionally, allegations of sexual violence have emerged from the Al Giraif Gharb neighborhood.
Meanwhile, SAF troops and affiliated fighters have also been accused of looting and arbitrary arrests in Khartoum North and East Nile.
The nearly two-year war, which began in April 2023, has left vast parts of Khartoum unrecognisable. The Sudanese army has been attempting to reclaim lost territory, with army units now positioned less than a kilometre from the presidential palace, which the RSF seized at the start of the conflict.
The UN has once again called for an end to the violence, urging all parties and their international backers to take concrete steps to protect civilians and restore order in Sudan, which it describes as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
