“This is the reality now. We are trying to live with the situation, but we are afraid to give up and flee again,” Mahmoud Satti, a teacher who returned to Omdurman after a year-long displacement journey in central Sudan, told Xinhua.
KHARTOUM, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) — The Karari locality of Omdurman city, north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, has regained some vibrancy after a fierce battle in March that expelled the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from the old neighborhoods, expanding the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to the south.
Overcrowded markets and therapeutic activities such as masquerade parties and puppet theaters — the routines of life — have started to reemerge in the locality, which hosts more than 160 shelter centers packed with displaced Sudanese.
However, the returnees have never felt rest assured amid the hustle-bustle, as they are still subjected to random artillery shelling from time to time.
On Monday, at least 15 people were killed and 61 others injured in an artillery attack by the RSF on the crowded Sabreen civilian market in Karari. The death toll could be higher as the local rescue team was unable to reach some victims.
“This is the reality now. We are trying to live with the situation, but we are afraid to give up and flee again,” said Mahmoud Satti, a teacher who returned to Omdurman after a year-long displacement journey in central Sudan.
“What happened in Sabreen market was very tragic. People here are dying because of random shelling,” Satti told Xinhua.
He urged government authorities to protect the returnees, address the security gap, and provide necessary services to Omdurman’s residents.
“There are no food shops amid a great shortage of goods, while prices for what is available are very high,” said Saadan Omer, a citizen from Omdurman.
Most people live on aid from their relatives abroad, and Takias — sanctuaries for the impoverished and needy set up by Sudanese activists and volunteers — remain as the primary source of food supply for Omdurman’s residents, he said.
“There is a significant spread of diseases amid a great shortage in medicines, while there are no nearby hospitals, and even those operational have been bombed and looted,” said Saeed Al-Zubair, a 49-year-old man from Omdurman.