The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have blamed each other for a strike that damaged a bridge over the Jebel Aulia dam south of Khartoum, the latest piece of key infrastructure to suffer in a seven-month war.
It came a few days after intense fighting between the two warring sides in the area. Bodies were seen on the streets, among them civilians, and more than 1,000 people were displaced from Jebel Aulia and the villages west of the White Nile River, following the attack on the dam and the seizure of the bridge.
A human rights lawyer in Wad Madani, Gezira state, told the Guardian that she had documented at least 10 cases of rape from Jebel Aulia, and said some victims were being treated in hospital.
“Most of the cases I have received are for young women, mostly under 25 years old. They told us that they were raped by the RSF after taking control of the area.”
Last Saturday, the two warring sides also exchanged accusations over the damage to the Shambat Bridge linking Omdurman with Bahri, Khartoum North, which used to be controlled by the RSF.
Only one bridge controlled by the RSF remains safe, the Al Mansheiya Bridge on the Blue Nile River linking Khartoum with the eastern Nile district. The rest of the bridges are divided between the two warring sides
