Rockets in Darfur kill 16 civilians

At least 16 civilians have been killed by rocket fire that hit their houses in war-torn Sudan's western Darfur region, a local lawyers' union said yesterday.

The vast region, already ravaged by brutal conflict in the early 2000s, has seen some of the worst of the violence since fighting erupted in mid-April between Sudan's rival generals vying for power.

"During an exchange of rocket fire between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), 16 civilians were killed on Friday, according to a preliminary toll, in Nyala," the South Darfur state capital, the union said.

And at least one man was killed by a sniper, it added.

In the West Darfur capital of El Geneina, near Chad, snipers have reportedly been targeting residents from rooftops since fighting began, and tens of thousands of residents have fled across the border.

Fighting in Darfur, an RSF stronghold, has recently concentrated around Nyala, after brutal clashes in El Geneina where the United Nations had reported atrocities.

Battles have also continued in and around Khartoum. Residents reported on Saturday first army air strikes on villages in the Al-Jazirah state's north, just south of the capital.

The fertile land between the White Nile and Blue Nile rivers now hosts several hundred thousands of the estimated 3.3 million people the war has displaced. If fighting expands into Al-Jazirah, they may be forced to flee again.