Residents Near Sudanese Capital Ordered To Evacuate Over Fighting

Smoke rises in Omdurman, near Halfaya Bridge, during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army as seen from Khartoum North, Sudan April 15, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Smoke rises in Omdurman, near Halfaya Bridge, during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army as seen from Khartoum North, Sudan April 15, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
TT
20

Residents Near Sudanese Capital Ordered To Evacuate Over Fighting

Smoke rises in Omdurman, near Halfaya Bridge, during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army as seen from Khartoum North, Sudan April 15, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Smoke rises in Omdurman, near Halfaya Bridge, during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army as seen from Khartoum North, Sudan April 15, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Residents of an area near Sudan's capital were ordered to evacuate, locals said, as fighting between the army and paramilitary forces continues to shake the capital.

"Heavy artillery fire" fell on densely populated areas of the Sudanese capital and nearby areas, witnesses told AFP. In adjacent Omdurman, Khartoum's battle-scarred twin city, shelling fell on residential homes.

The army and paramilitary forces ordered the evacuation of civilians from Abu Rouf, according to the neighbourhood's resistance committee, one of the many groups that used to organise pro-democracy demonstrations and now provides assistance to families in the line of fire.

The army conducted airstrikes and fired artillery at the Shambat Bridge to cut off access to the area from their foes, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The paramilitary group used the bridge to resupply from the other side of the Nile, according to a resident discussing the evacuations.

The war between the army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has killed more than 3,900 people, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

It has displaced more than 3.3 million, according to the United Nations, and plunged millions more into hunger.

Much of the country's already fragile infrastructure has been destroyed, with more than 80 percent of Sudan's hospitals no longer in service, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The few health facilities that remain often come under fire or are looted, and struggle to provide care.

Consequently, for the victims of sexual violence that has run rampant during the war, "receiving the necessary healthcare" is an "immense challenge", Souleima Ishaq al-Khalifa, the head doctor in the government's agency combating violence against women, told AFP.

Since April 15, Khalifa and her colleagues have documented 108 sexual assaults in Khartoum and Darfur -- the restive western region on the border with Chad where a quarter of Sudan's 48 million people live.

That toll is likely underestimated, like the human losses, as victims and caregivers are unable to travel due to the conflict.

Survivors of rape face a double burden, she adds, as "there are no more medicines in Khartoum," and "in Nyala (South Darfur), they cannot reach the hospital because there is an RSF base in the way".

Entire towns and villages have been destroyed in Darfur, an RSF stronghold, which was already ravaged in the 2000s by a bloody civil war and is now an epicentre of the ongoing fighting.



UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
20

UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)

The World Food Program says its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel’s nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory.

The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days.

Some 80% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the UN. The WFP has been supporting 47 kitchens that distribute 644,000 hot meals a day, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told the Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear how many kitchens would still be operating in Gaza if those shut down. But Etefa said the WFP-backed kitchens are the major ones in Gaza.

Israel cut off entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza on March 2 and then resumed its bombardment and ground offensives two weeks later, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. It says the moves aim to pressure Hamas to release hostages it still holds. Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.

Israel has said Gaza has enough supplies after a surge of aid entered during the ceasefire and accuses Hamas of diverting aid for its purposes. Humanitarian workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution. They say the aid flow during the ceasefire was barely enough to cover the immense needs from throughout the war when only a trickle of supplies got in.

With no new goods entering Gaza, many foods have disappeared from markets, including meat, eggs, fruits, dairy products and many vegetables. Prices for what remains have risen dramatically, becoming unaffordable for much of the population. Most families rely heavily on canned goods.

Malnutrition is already surging. The UN said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80% from the month before. At the same time, because of diminishing supplies, aid groups were only able to provide nutritional supplements to some 22,000 children in March, down 70% from February. The supplements are a crucial tool for averting malnutrition.

Almost all bakeries shut down weeks ago and the WFP stopped distribution of food basics to families for lack of supplies. With stocks of most ingredients depleted, charity kitchens generally can only serve meals of pasta or rice with little added.

World Central Kitchen -- a US charity that is one of the biggest in Gaza that doesn’t rely on the WFP -- said Thursday that its kitchens had run out of proteins. Instead, they make stews from canned vegetables. Because fuel is scarce, it dismantles wooden shipping pallets to burn in its stoves, it said. It also runs the only bakery still functioning in Gaza, producing 87,000 loaves of pita a day.

The WFP said 116,000 tons of food is ready to be brought into Gaza if Israel opens the borders, enough to feed 1 million people for four months.

Israel has leveled much of Gaza with its air and ground campaign, vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. It has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

In the Oct. 7 attack, gunmen killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 59 hostages after most were released in ceasefire deals.