KHARTOUM - The death toll from shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Saturday on a crowded market in Omdurman, north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, has risen to 54, Sudan's Ministry of Health announced.

The ministry said in a statement that health institutions reported 54 deaths and 158 injuries in the deadly attack on Sabreen Market in the Karari locality.

It condemned the attack against civilians, saying, "This constitutes a breach of international norms and laws."

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Khalid Ali Aleisir, Sudan's minister of information and government spokesperson, also slammed the attack as it resulted in massive civilian casualties and widespread destruction of private and public property.

Earlier, a medical source at Al-Nao Hospital in Omdurman told Xinhua that "the situation is catastrophic in every sense of the word. We need blood donors and medical supplies."

A Xinhua correspondent in Omdurman reported the shelling simultaneously targeted residential areas near the market.

The RSF has not commented on the incident yet.

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The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) frequently accuses the RSF of bombing the Karari locality from its positions in Bahri, a city in Khartoum State. Karari is the only area in Omdurman that remains densely populated and fully under army control.

Military confrontations between the SAF and the RSF have intensified recently in Khartoum.

Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the two parties since mid-April 2023, which claimed at least 29,683 lives and displaced over 15 million people, either inside or outside Sudan, according to the latest estimates by international organizations.