Airstrikes, gunfire, and explosions rock Khartoum this Saturday as violence in Darfur (west) continues to drive residents to flee. Fighting resumed a few days ago in Darfur, precisely in El Geneina, and in several other localities near the Chadian border. The new fights push the inhabitants of this city to flee to take refuge in Chad, in Adré, or near the border on the Sudanese side.
This Saturday, airstrikes targeted the district of Yarmouk in the south of the capital, causing “civilian victims”, according to the local resistance committee, one of the militant cells which organize mutual aid between the inhabitants of the capital. Shots from various sources were also reported by residents of southern Khartoum, while in the northern suburbs resound “rocket and heavy artillery fire”, witnesses told AFP.
The situation is just as alarming in the Darfur region, where “violence is raging”, warns the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Testimonies of large-scale violence against civilians are increasing there, and according to the UN, more than 149,000 people have fled to Chad since the fighting began. In recent days alone, “6,000 people have fled the town of El-Geneina” (West Darfur), to find refuge in the town of Adré in Chad, MSF said on Saturday.
Among them, more than 400 were injured, 120 of whom are in serious condition. Houda Ibrahim, from the Africa editorial team, contacted Claire Nicolet, head of activities for Sudan and eastern Chad at Doctors Without Borders.