Local security conflict

The Sudanese authorities announced yesterday that at least five civilians have been killed in an artillery attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a mosque in Omdurman, west of the capital Khartoum.“The rebel militia [RSF] shelled worshippers at Al-Rashad Mosque, during the sunset prayer on Sunday evening at Al-Rashad Mosque in the northern rural area of the Karrari district,” said the Khartoum State Government. As well as five people being killed, the mosque imam lost a leg, and several children were severely injured and transferred to nearby hospitals for treatment, it confirmed.Omdurman has recently witnessed intermittent artillery shelling exchanged between the RSF and the Sudanese Army, which controls the entire northern area and other parts of the city.In a related context, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) reported on Monday that “sixteen per cent of war patients treated at Bashair Teaching Hospital (a government hospital located south of Khartoum) are children.”
The international organisation pointed out that, between 19 October and 8 November, its staff screened 4,186 women and children in Khartoum for malnutrition. “Of these, 1,559 were suffering from severe malnutrition, and 400 from moderate malnutrition,” said MSF, while noting that the figures continue to increase daily, with children being the most affected by the ongoing conflict.There are growing calls by the UN and international community to end the war in order to spare Sudan a humanitarian catastrophe that has begun to push millions to famine and death due to food and fresh water shortages resulting from the fighting that has spread to 13 out of 18 states in the country. Fighting broke out between the Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Forces in mid-April 2023.