Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces in a statement on Thursday accused the army and “extremist brigades of the former regime” of carrying out a “barbaric aerial bombardment” on residential neighborhoods and a sheep market in East Nile state’s Hillat Koko for the second time this week.
“The barbaric aerial bombardment on the “Sheep Market” in Hillat Koko in East Nile resulted in the death of 35 people, including women and children, according to preliminary statistics, while rescue operations for the wounded are still continuing,” the group said.
The airstrikes on Hillat Koko earlier this week killed 20 people and injured dozens, today’s attack raises the death toll to at least 55 people in the city.
On Monday and Tuesday bombings and airstrikes by the army targeted marketplaces and residential areas in the capital Khartoum, Bahri, Omdurman and East Nile regions and resulted in at least 104 civilian casualties while leaving hundreds more injured.
“The return of the terrorist National Congress regime, under the leadership of the criminal (army chief) Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, to carry out new genocidal operations against the Sudanese people, represents a serious threat to the stability of Sudan and the region,” RSF warned.
The group called on people of eastern Sudan to rise up and resist army chief al-Burhan and remnants of the former NC regime.
“It is time for the honorable people of eastern Sudan to confront the practices of the criminal Burhan and members of the National Congress … and the remnants who turned the city of Port Sudan into a room for managing the war and destroying the capabilities of our people.”
War broke out in Sudan on April 15 – four years after a popular uprising ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir. Tensions between the army (SAF) and RSF, which jointly removed him from power in 2021, erupted into fighting over a plan to integrate their forces as part of a transition to civilian rule.
According to the United Nations, since April, approximately 380,000 refugees, predominantly women and children, have sought refuge in Chad due to the conflict. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands have also fled to countries including the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.
