Market bombed in Omdurman, dozens killed and injured

February 1, 2025 (OMDURMAN) – Artillery shelling on a bustling market and residential areas in northern Omdurman on Saturday killed at least 54 civilians and injured 136, according to Sudanese government officials.

However, eyewitnesses and medical sources on the ground fear the death toll is significantly higher, potentially reaching 100, with some victims arriving at hospitals dismembered.

The attack on the Sabreen market and surrounding Al-Thawra neighbourhoods, attributed to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has ignited widespread condemnation and renewed calls for accountability.

Social media footage depicted chaotic scenes at Al-Nao Hospital, where overwhelmed medical staff treated scores of wounded civilians in the courtyard. Volunteers rushed to Al-Nao and Swaid hospitals to donate blood after urgent appeals for assistance.

“The RSF shelling on Sabreen market and Al-Thawra neighborhoods in the Karari locality resulted in the deaths of 54 people and injuries to 136 others,” Fathi Rahman Mohamed Al-Amin, Director-General of the Khartoum State Ministry of Health, told Sudan Tribune.

He added that 31 shrapnel removal surgeries were performed at Swaid Hospital, with other casualties receiving treatment at Al-Nao and Omdurman hospitals.

The Sudan Doctors Syndicate reported a higher death toll of 61, with 65 injured, describing the incident as a “massacre.”

The Sudanese government denounced the attack. Information Minister Khaled Al-Aisir called it a “heinous terrorist attack” by the RSF, saying it targeted civilians, including children, women, and the elderly.

Al-Aisir asserted that the shelling constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law and urged the international community and human rights organizations to designate the RSF as a terrorist militia and hold its leaders, including commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, accountable.

Mutaz Al-Fahal, a senior figure in the Democratic Unionist Party (Original), said the RSF was resorting to indiscriminate shelling after battlefield defeats. He accused the RSF of being “a tool of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and demographic change” and a “terrorist organization” serving a foreign agenda.

Khaled Omer Youssif, a leading member of the anti-war coalition Tagadum, labelled the attack on the Sabreen market a “war crime” and demanded justice.

The RSF has intensified attacks on critical infrastructure, including power and water facilities, across Sudan, coinciding with the shelling in Omdurman and El Fasher, the North Darfur capital.

Following the attack, Khartoum State Governor Ahmed Othman Hamza and other officials visited Al-Naw Hospital. They oversaw search and rescue efforts at the market, where Civil Defence teams recovered bodies from the rubble.

Health Minister Al-Amin said the ministry mobilized surgeons and medical staff to treat the injured, provide emergency medications, and prepare ambulances.

The Sudanese Professionals Association and the National Umma Party also condemned the shelling. The Emergency Lawyers group said the attack was part of a deliberate RSF strategy to displace civilians, obstruct the return of displaced people, and use civilians as leverage. They accused both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces of employing similar tactics and called for international action to hold those responsible to account.

Human rights advocates are urging the International Criminal Court to extend its jurisdiction to cover all of Sudan, beyond just Darfur, as the court prepares to issue arrest warrants for alleged RSF atrocities in West Darfur.