180 unidentified bodies buried as air raids, artillery fire and explosions rock Sudan’s capital

Warplanes of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s army targeted positions of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who responded with anti-aircraft fire

Washington slapped sanctions on the warring parties on Thursday, holding both responsible for provoking ‘appalling’ bloodshed

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People check the rubble of their destroyed home after strikes at Allamat district in Khartoum, Sudan. On Saturday, volunteers had to bury 180 unidentified bodies. Photo: AP

Published: 3:54am, 4 Jun 2023

Air raids, artillery fire and explosions rocked Sudan’s capital on Saturday, as fighting between warring generals entered its eighth week, and after volunteers had to bury 180 unidentified bodies.

Witnesses told Agence France-Presse of “bombs falling and civilians being injured” in southern Khartoum, while others in the city’s north reported “artillery fire”, days after a US- and Saudi-brokered ceasefire collapsed.

Warplanes of the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan targeted positions of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who responded with anti-aircraft fire, residents reported.

Sudan’s General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stands among troops in an unknown location. Photo: Sudanese Armed Forces / Handout via Reuters

Since the fighting between Sudan’s warring generals erupted on April 15, volunteers have buried 102 unidentified bodies in the capital’s Al-Shegilab cemetery and 78 more in cemeteries in Darfur, a Sudanese Red Crescent statement said.

Both al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Daglo have pledged repeatedly to protect civilians and secure humanitarian corridors.

But civilians reported escalated fighting after the army quit ceasefire talks on Wednesday, including one army bombardment that a committee of human rights lawyers said killed 18 civilians in a Khartoum market.

Both sides have accused the other of violating the ceasefire, as well as attacking civilians and infrastructure.

180 unidentified bodies buried as air raids, artillery fire and explosions rock Sudan’s capital

Warplanes of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s army targeted positions of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who responded with anti-aircraft fire Washington slapped sanctions on the warring parties on Thursday, holding both responsible for provoking ‘appalling’ bloodshed

Warplanes of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s army targeted positions of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who responded with anti-aircraft fire

Washington slapped sanctions on the warring parties on Thursday, holding both responsible for provoking ‘appalling’ bloodshed