Sudan’s army has attacked a neighborhood in Omdurman where a traditional healer is treating injured paramilitary fighters.
On Monday, ten people were killed in shelling, marking four months since the commencement of the deadly power struggle between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Since the beginning of the war, the RSF has established bases in several residential neighborhoods of the three cities that comprise Greater Khartoum – Bahri, Khartoum, and Omdurman – which are frequently targeted by air strikes and shelling.
One round was launched from the nearby Karari military post and landed in a small square in Omdurman’s Ombada 19 district, where young men were seeking shade from the heat.
A different shell struck the home of a restaurant owner, killing his son.
On Tuesday, another shell was launched at the traditional healer’s home, but it did not explode.
The attacks disrupted internet access, which was only restored later that day.
The residence of the traditional healer, who was not harmed, has become a sort of clinic throughout the conflict, as a result of 80% of hospitals being forced to close due to the fighting.
She is well-known for treating bone fractures and has lately treated RSF personnel.
Traditional healing is widespread in Sudan, and many people believe it is superior to modern treatment for repairing broken bones.
Members of the Rizeigat ethnic group also live in Ombada 19.
They are originally from Darfur, as is RSF head Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, as are many of his fighters.
RSF soldiers are frequently spotted carrying firearms in and near the area where hundreds of civilians have fled due to the recent attacks.
Hawa Adam, an Ombada 19 resident who has escaped with her little boy to seek refuge at a stranger’s house in a safer neighborhood, said: “I really don’t know why they shelled our neighbourhood. There’s not a single RSF fighter here.”
An airstrike hit a separate suburb of Omdurman, Ombada 16, on Sunday. According to a neighborhood organization, three young males, two siblings and a neighbor, were killed.
