At least 22 people were killed in an airstrike by Sudan's military in the city of Omdurman on Saturday, health officials said.

Numerous people were also injured in the attack, the Khartoum state Health Ministry said.

The airstrike was one of the deadliest since clashes between the military and a powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, began in Sudan in mid-May.

Last month, an airstrike killed at least 17 people, including five children in Khartoum. The RSF blamed the military for striking residential areas in Omdurman.

Hot spot of fighting

While the RSF quickly dominated the capital, Khartoum, and its sister cities, Omdurman and Bahri, after fighting broke out on April 15, the military has launched air and artillery strikes.

In recent days, fighting has focused on Omdurman, as the western part of the city is a key supply route for the RSF to bring reinforcements in from Darfur, its power base.

Strikes, including overnight on Friday, have also centered on the country's state broadcasting complex in eastern Omdurman. Other strikes hit southern and eastern Khartoum.

Battle of two generals

The conflict broke out in mid-April, capping months of increasing tensions between the military, chaired by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.

The fighting came 18 months after the two generals led a military coup in October 2021 that toppled a Western-backed civilian transitional government. Previous attempts at mediation have been unsuccessful.

More than 2.9 million people have had to leave their homes due to the fighting, and more than 700,000 of them have fled to neighboring countries.

Observers fear a destabilization of the entire region. According to aid organizations, there has recently been an "alarming number” of rapes and kidnappings of women and girls.

dh/lo (AP, Reuters)