Pro-democracy activists in Sudan alleged Friday that paramilitary troops carried out "violent artillery fire" on Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, killing about 40 people.

"So far, the death toll is estimated at 40 civilians, and there are more than 50 injured, some seriously," the Karari Resistance Committee said in a statement posted on social media, blaming the shelling on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.

PHOTO | COURTESY Shelling aftermath

"There is still no precise count of the number of victims in Omdurman," said the organization, one of hundreds of similar grassroots pro-democracy groups across Sudan that coordinate aid.

"Most of the dead arrived at Al Nao University Hospital, others at private hospitals or were buried by their families," the group added.

The strikes came a day after the RSF was accused of murdering over 104 people, including 35 children, in a Wednesday raid on the community of Wad al-Noura in Al-Jazira state, south of Khartoum.

PHOTO | COURTESY Shelling aftermath

Sudan has been at war since April 2023, when violence erupted between the army, led by military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Burhan's former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

According to Tom Perriello, the United States ambassador to Sudan, the conflict has taken thousands of lives in just over a year, with some estimates placing the death toll at 150,000.

Since the beginning of the war, about seven million people have fled from their homes in different areas of Sudan.