Shelling kills 9 in Sudan city retaken by army

Paramilitary shelling Sunday on a strategic city in Sudan's south, where the army broke a prolonged siege last month, killed nine civilians and injured 21 others, a medical source said.

El-Obeid, the state capital of North Kordofan, came under attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with the army since April 2023, said the source at the city's main hospital and several witnesses.

The hospital source, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety concerns, told AFP that the shelling wounded 23 people, all civilians, two of whom later succumbed to their injuries, taking the death toll to nine.

Witnesses reported intense bombardment by the RSF on Sunday, with one shell striking a public transport bus carrying passengers, on the third consecutive day of attacks from the north and east.

Last month, the army broke a nearly two-year RSF siege on El-Obeid, which sits at a crucial crossroads connecting the capital Khartoum to the country's western region of Darfur.