Sudan Activists Say About '40 Dead' in Shelling Near Khartoum

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
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Sudan Activists Say About '40 Dead' in Shelling Near Khartoum

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Pro-democracy activists in Sudan reported Friday that about 40 people were killed in "violent artillery fire" carried out the previous day on Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city.

"So far, the death toll is estimated at 40 civilians and there are more than 50 injured, some seriously," the Karari Resistance Committee said in a statement posted on social media, blaming the shelling on the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.

"There is still no precise count of the number of victims in Omdurman," said the organization, one of hundreds of similar grassroots pro-democracy groups across Sudan that coordinate aid, according to AFP.

"Most of the dead arrived at Al Nao university hospital, others at private hospitals or were buried by their families," the group added.

The strikes come a day after the RSF was accused of killing more than 104 people, including 35 children, in an attack on Wednesday on the village of Wad al-Noura in Al-Jazira state, to the south of Khartoum.

Sudan has been ravaged by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the army, led by military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Burhan's former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

In just over a year, the war has claimed thousands of lives, with some estimates putting the death toll as high as 150,000, according to the United States envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello.

Since the start of the war, more than seven million people have fled their homes for other parts of Sudan, adding to 2.8 million already displaced from previous conflicts in the country of 48 million inhabitants.

Fighting continues daily across the country, including in the capital, with both sides accused of war crimes including the deliberate targeting of civilians, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and blocking humanitarian aid.



Trump Opposes Israeli Annexation of West Bank

President Donald Trump waves to the media as he walks on the South Lawn upon his arrival to the White House, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President Donald Trump waves to the media as he walks on the South Lawn upon his arrival to the White House, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Trump Opposes Israeli Annexation of West Bank

President Donald Trump waves to the media as he walks on the South Lawn upon his arrival to the White House, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President Donald Trump waves to the media as he walks on the South Lawn upon his arrival to the White House, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

A White House official on Monday reiterated US President Donald Trump's opposition toward Israel annexing the West Bank.

"A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region," the official said.

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

Saudi Arabia and seven other Muslim countries on Monday condemned new Israeli measures to tighten control of the West Bank and pave the way for more settlements on the occupied Palestinian territory.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Palestinian Authority (PA).


Sudan Returns to East African Bloc After Two Years

A displaced Sudanese woman carries plastic water containers at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the in Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
A displaced Sudanese woman carries plastic water containers at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the in Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
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Sudan Returns to East African Bloc After Two Years

A displaced Sudanese woman carries plastic water containers at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the in Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)
A displaced Sudanese woman carries plastic water containers at the Abu al-Naga displacement camp in the in Gedaref State, some 420km east of the capital Khartoum on February 6, 2026. (AFP)

Sudan on Monday announced it was returning to east African bloc IGAD, two years after freezing its membership over a decision to invite rival paramilitary chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo to a summit.

"The government of the Republic of Sudan will resume its full activity in the membership" in the Djibouti-based Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Sudan had suspended its membership in January 2024 after the bloc invited the head of rival paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to a summit in Uganda to discuss the country's brutal conflict.

The RSF has been at war with Sudan's army since April 2023 in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

The foreign ministry cited a statement by IGAD which reaffirmed "its full recognition of Sudan's sovereignty and the unity of its lands and people" and pledged "non-interference in member states' internal affairs".

The decision to rejoin IGAD follows a meeting in January between the bloc's executive secretary, Workneh Gebeyehu, and Sudan's Prime Minister Kamil Idris.

Following the meeting, the bloc issued a statement saying it "condemns all forms of violations committed by the Rapid Support Forces and reaffirms its full support for the unity and sovereignty of the Republic of the Sudan, as well as its existing national institutions".

The nearly three-year conflict has effectively split Sudan between army-controlled areas in the north, east and center, and those controlled by the paramilitaries in the west and parts of the south.

The RSF has also formed a rival parallel administration in Nyala, the South Darfur state capital, but it has received no international recognition.

IGAD on Monday welcomed Sudan's decision to return, describing it as "a reaffirmation of regional solidarity and collective commitment to peace, stability, and cooperation across the region".


EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
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EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)

The European Union on Monday condemned new Israeli measures to tighten control of the West Bank and pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, AFP reported.

"The European Union condemns recent decisions by Israel's security cabinet to expand Israeli control in the West Bank. This move is another step in the wrong direction," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni told journalists.