Market shelling kills 21 after Sudan rejects UN call for ‘impartial’ force to protect civilians

Dozens more were injured in Sunday’s attack, which was blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces

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Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces unit. File photo: AP

Published: 11:40pm, 8 Sep 2024Updated: 10:38am, 9 Sep 2024

Shelling killed at least 21 people at a market in southeast Sudan on Sunday, a day after the country’s rulers rejected a call by United Nations experts for an independent force to protect civilians from the devastating civil war.

The Sudan Doctors Network blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the shelling, which happened in the town of Sennar. As well as the 21 killed, it said more than 70 people had been wounded in the attack.

The attack was just the latest in a bloody conflict that broke out in April last year between the army and paramilitary forces. It has already killed tens of thousands of people and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Sunday’s market shelling came a day after Sudan’s foreign ministry rejected a call by independent UN experts for “an independent and impartial force with a mandate to safeguard civilians” to be deployed “without delay”.

The UN experts spoke out on Friday, saying their fact-finding mission had uncovered “harrowing” violations by both sides, “which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity”.