Massive explosions shook the Riyadh neighborhood in the capital Khartoum, this Friday afternoon, as flames covered the sky of the city, targeting locations of the Rapid Support Forces. Clashes expanded today between the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces to the city of Al-Obeid in the west of the country, after being confined to Khartoum, Omdurman, and Khartoum North. The governor of Darfur called on both warring parties to ensure that the war does not move to Darfur, urging the region to arm itself in anticipation of a civil war.
Today's raids are the second on the locations of the Rapid Support Forces in the vicinity of Al-Obeid city, which witnessed clashes and reciprocal bombardment yesterday, leading to shells falling in several residential neighborhoods and injuries among civilians. The official Sudanese news agency (SUNA) reported that three Egyptian cargo planes carrying 37 tons of medical supplies and lifesaving medications arrived at Port Sudan International Airport.
Doctors Without Borders announced today that armed individuals assaulted a group of its workers who were delivering medical supplies to the Turkish hospital in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. The organization stated in a statement that the attackers violently assaulted a team of 18 of its members. Reuters couldn't independently verify what happened, and representatives of the Sudanese Ministry of Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It remains unclear whether either of the competing factions was involved in the alleged assault.
The organization’s statement read, "After controversy over the presence of Doctors Without Borders, the armed individuals aggressively attacked the organization's team, beat them, and whipped them... They detained a vehicle driver from the organization and threatened to kill him before releasing him and stole the vehicle." The Sudan Conflict Observatory, based in the United States, reported that the Rapid Support Forces and allied troops executed an attack aimed at destroying at least 26 tribal communities in Darfur, forcing not less than 668,000 civilians to flee since mid-April.
It is noteworthy that the war has displaced about 3 million civilians, especially from the capital Khartoum, where a quarter of Sudan's population of 48 million lives.
