Sudanese Doctors' Union says 17 killed in shelling south of Khartoum
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The Sudanese Doctors' Union says 17 people were killed and 106 others were wounded in a violent shelling in Khartoum following a breakdown in talks to extend the ceasefire.
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A crowded ward at a hospital in El Fasher in Sudan's North Darfur region, April 19, 2023. (AFP)
Some 17 people were killed and 106 others were injured on Wednesday following violent shelling that took place just south of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, according to a statement by the Sudanese Doctors' Union.
The non-governmental medical body said in a statement that the area in question witnessed violent, bloody shelling, which killed 17 and injured 106 others, 36 of whom are in need of operations.
The union also noted that the number of injuries was still rising and that local hospitals were overwhelmed with the number of cases they received, a situation that was also exacerbated by the lack of medical personnel.
The union also called on all available medical personnel that are near local hospitals to come to the aid of their colleagues if possible.
According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), the death toll since the clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began has reached 1800 people, most of whom were killed in Khartoum and the city of Al Junaynah, West of Darfur.
Read more: Sudanese stuck in war zone after US destroyed their passports: WP
Breakdown of talks
On Wednesday, a Sudanese government official said the Sudanese army announced that it has suspended its participation in the US-Saudi-brokered ceasefire talks with the RSF.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Sudanese official indicated that the army took the decision "because the rebels have never implemented a single one of the provisions of a short-term ceasefire which required their withdrawal from hospitals and residential buildings, and have repeatedly violated the truce."
The US and Saudi mediators confirmed Monday that the army and the RSF had agreed to extend by five days a humanitarian truce they had frequently violated over the previous week.
But despite their pledges, fighting erupted once again on Tuesday both in greater Khartoum and in the western region of Darfur.
"The army is ready to fight until victory," stressed army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan during a visit to troops in the capital on Tuesday.
The RSF, led by Al-Burhan's former deputy Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo, said they will "exercise their right to defend themselves" and accused the army of violating the truce.
