The UN reported on Sunday that at least 60 people have died and more than 150 have been injured due to an attack carried out on Saturday against a crowded market in the city of Omdurman, adjacent to the capital Khartoum. This attack is considered one of the worst actions against civilians since the onset of the war in Sudan in 2023.

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Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, strongly condemned the “horrific indiscriminate attack” on the Sabreen market and assaults on several residential neighborhoods in Omdurman. In a statement, Nkweta-Salami described these acts as “serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights standards,” emphasizing that those responsible must be held accountable, although she did not specify any particular actors.

She renewed her call to all parties involved in the Sudanese conflict to “avoid attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure” and to fulfill their responsibilities under international humanitarian law by taking all possible measures to protect civilians.

The warring factions, the Sudanese government—led by military forces—and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have accused each other of launching the attack in this city controlled by the Sudanese Army. This incident occurs as paramilitary forces continue to lose ground in Khartoum state while the Army tightens its grip after regaining control of North Khartoum earlier this week.

The war in Sudan, which began in April 2023 following failed negotiations to integrate paramilitaries into the Army during a political transition after the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and triggered the worst displacement crisis globally.

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