File Photo: Plumes of smoke rise during strikes in central Khartoum. AFP
Drone attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) -- which have been at war against the central government since April 2023 -- have intensified in recent months, at times killing dozens of people in a single strike.
Emergency Lawyers, a Sudanese legal advocacy group documenting abuses during the conflict, said an RSF drone struck a civilian vehicle on the Jammouiya Triangle road Saturday morning in southern Omdurman -- just across the Nile from Khartoum proper -- killing all those on board.
The vehicle was travelling from the Sheikh al-Siddiq area in White Nile state, about 90 kilometres (56 miles) south of Khartoum, the group said.
Last Tuesday, a drone strike hit a hospital in the Jebel Awliya area, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of central Khartoum, a security source and eyewitnesses told AFP.
It was the first such attack on the capital in months, after the area was recaptured by the army a year ago from its paramilitary rivals.
Jebel Awliya had been the RSF's last foothold in Khartoum state before the army's rapid counteroffensive, which pushed the paramilitary west towards its stronghold in the Darfur region.
The RSF carried out a series of drone strikes on Khartoum last year, largely targeting military sites, power stations and water infrastructure.
In recent months, however, the capital has seen relative calm. More than 1.8 million displaced residents have returned and the airport has resumed domestic flights, although much of the city remains without electricity or basic services.
Fighting has since been concentrated in Darfur, where the army lost its last base in October, and in Kordofan, where the RSF has sought to regain control of Sudan's key east-west highway.
Violence has also spread to southeastern Blue Nile state near the border with Ethiopia, raising fears of a more prolonged and fragmented conflict.
Now in its fourth year, the war has killed tens of thousands of people -- with some estimates putting the death toll above 200,000 -- displaced millions and triggered one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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