In a conflict that has now entered its sixth month, paramilitary forces launched an assault on the army headquarters on the second day of fighting in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.
Witness accounts have painted a bleak image of the city as clashes escalate and various weapons are employed in the ongoing violence.
Khartoum’s Six-Month Conflict
Eyewitnesses in Khartoum reported, “Clashes are now happening around the army headquarters with various types of weapons.”
In contrast, other reports indicated fighting in El-Obeid, located approximately 350 kilometers (220 miles) to the south.
Saturday saw an escalation in battles between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), setting several key buildings in central Khartoum ablaze.
Verified social media posts have been flooded with footage showing the iconic landmarks of the Khartoum skyline, including the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower, engulfed in flames.
This conical building with glass facades had long served as an emblem of the city.
Heart-wrenching posts mourn the devastation of Khartoum, a city now reduced to a shell of its former self, with buildings left charred, bullet-pocked, and smoldering.
The ongoing conflict, which erupted on April 15, pits army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
According to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, nearly 7,500 people have died in the violence.
The war has also displaced more than five million people, including 2.8 million who have fled the relentless air strikes, artillery fire, and street battles in Khartoum’s densely populated neighborhoods.
Residents who remain in the city wake up each day to a skyline obscured by clouds of smoke, with the cacophony of bombs and gunfire serving as a grim backdrop to their daily lives.
Read more: Morocco Quake’s Impact: Village Buried Under Boulders
Deadly Airstrike: 51 Lives Lost in Mayo Market, Among Deadliest in Ongoing Conflict
In a tragic development last week, at least 51 people were killed in air strikes on a market in Mayo, according to the United Nations.
This marked one of the deadliest single attacks of the entire conflict.
The worst of the violence has been concentrated in Khartoum and the western region of Darfur, where ethnically motivated attacks by the RSF and allied militias have led to renewed investigations by the International Criminal Court into possible war crimes.
Additionally, fighting continues in the southern Kordofan region, where eyewitnesses have again reported artillery fire between the army and the RSF in El-Obeid.
As the conflict’s toll on the city and its people continues to mount, international observers and humanitarian organizations are increasingly concerned about the deteriorating situation in Sudan, with calls for a peaceful resolution growing louder.
Read more: Russian Naval Base Under Siege: Major Attack Hits Warships
