The UN has expressed deep concerns over an incoming “full-scale civil war” in Sudan, following a deadly air strike on Khartoum. According to the organization, ongoing fighting has seen an increase in the number of atrocities committed against the population, while it now poses a risk of destabilization for the entire region.

Conflict-torn Sudan is on the brink of a “full-scale civil war” that could destabilise the entire region, the United Nations warned Sunday, after an air strike on a residential area killed around two dozen civilians.

The Ministry of Health reported “22 dead and a large number of wounded among the civilians” from what it described as an air strike Saturday on Khartoum’s sister city Omdurman, in the district of Dar al-Salam, which means “House of Peace” in Arabic.

After nearly three months of war between Sudan’s rival generals, the air strike is the latest incident to provoke outrage.

Around 3,000 people have been killed in the conflict, survivors have reported a wave of sexual violence and witnesses have spoken of ethnically targeted killings. There has been widespread looting, and the UN warned of possible crimes against humanity in the Darfur region.

Since the war began, paramilitaries have established bases in residential areas, and they have been accused of forcing civilians from their homes.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday condemned the air strike in Omdurman, which he said “reportedly killed at least 22 people” and wounded dozens, his deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement.

Towards an all-out civil war

Sudan, in northeast Africa, borders other impoverished countries which have a history of unrest.

Nearly three million people have been uprooted by Sudan’s fighting, among them almost 700,000 who have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The UN and African blocs have warned of an “ethnic dimension” to the conflict in the western region of Darfur, where the United States, Norway and Britain have blamed the RSF and allied militia for most of the widespread violations.

Concentrated in Darfur and the capital Khartoum, fighting has also been reported in Blue Nile state near Ethiopia, as well as in South Kordofan state.

Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have been invited but neither side has confirmed they will attend.

Numerous ceasefires in the war have been announced and ignored.

Malo Pinatel, with AFP