More than 120 killed by shelling near Sudan's capital

A gunman fires shots in the air as Sudanese people celebrate in Meroe in the country's Northern State on January 11, 2025, after the army announced entering key Al-Jazira state capital Wad Madani, held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. [AFP]

Sudanese volunteer rescuers said shelling of an area of Omdurman, the capital of Khartoum's twin city just across the Nile River, killed more than 120 people.

The "random shelling" on Monday in western Omdurman resulted in the deaths of 120 civilians, said the Ombada Emergency Response Room, part of a network of volunteer rescuers across the war-torn country.

The network described the toll as preliminary and did not specify who was behind the attack.

The rescuers said medical supplies were in critically short supply as health workers struggled to treat "a large number of wounded people suffering from varying degrees of injuries".

Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has escalated in recent weeks after more than 20 months of war in Sudan.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war which has left the country on the brink of famine, according to aid agencies.

Both the army and the RSF have been accused of targeting civilians, including health workers, and indiscriminately shelling residential areas.

Most of Omdurman is under army control while the RSF holds the capital and part of the greater Khartoum area.

Residents on both sides of the Nile have reported shelling across the river, with bombs and shrapnel regularly striking homes and civilians.