The Southern Belt Emergency Room in Khartoum reported on Tuesday that six individuals from a family of nine were killed and two others injured when an artillery shell struck their residence in the Al-Salama area of the Southern Belt in Khartoum.
Siham Salih, a member of the media office, told Radio Tamazuj that six family members, including the mother and grandmother, were killed in the incident. Two children from the family sustained injuries when the shell hit their home in the old Salama square.
Salih explained that the injured children suffered from abdominal and head injuries, as well as thigh fractures. Tragically, one of the children had their right hand amputated. She added, “The children are now orphans with only their elderly grandfather to support them, who himself faces health and nutritional challenges.”
She added that the father of the bereaved family has been held captive by the Rapid Support Forces since the start of the war, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Salih emphasized that the Southern Belt Emergency Room is assisting the children by providing financial support and food supplies, following a visit to the family’s home.
In recent months, various neighbourhoods in the Southern Belt have experienced ongoing shelling, leading to casualties.
The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been engaged in a war since April 2023 that has resulted in 15,000 deaths and more than 8 million displaced and refugees, according to the UN.
Since the start of the civil war, thousands of homes, schools, hospitals, and other vital civilian structures have been destroyed, plunging the country into a severe humanitarian crisis, and creating the world’s largest displacement crisis.