New Delhi: A fire broke out in an 18-storey building in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Sunday, as fighting between the army and rival paramilitary forces entered its sixth month.
According to Sudanese media, The Greater Nile Petroleum oil company tower in the center of Khartoum caught fire early Sunday during clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.
It is unclear how the fire started or whether anyone was killed. Online footage of the fire showed clouds of black smoke rising from the charred glass-panelled tower, one of the tallest buildings in the Sudanese capital.
Sudan has been rocked by violence since mid-April, when tensions between the country’s army led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo escalated into open fighting.
The conflict has turned Khartoum into an urban battlefield. Rights groups and activists say that in the Greater Khartoum area, RSF troops have captured civilian homes and turned them into operational bases, while the army has responded by bombing residential areas.
According to rights groups and the United Nations, In the Western Darfur region, the conflict has escalated into ethnic violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias attacking ethnic African groups,
More than 4,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to UN figures for August. However, doctors and activists say the real toll is almost certainly much higher. Last month, Amnesty International said both warring sides had committed widespread war crimes, including deliberate killings of civilians and sexual assault.
