Airstrike kills 17 people in Khartoum

CAIRO — An airstrike Saturday in Sudan’s capital Khartoum killed at least 17 people, including five children, health officials said, as fighting continued between rival generals seeking to control the country.

There was no immediate comment Saturday from either side of the conflict on the strike, and it was not clear whether the attack was by warplanes or a drone. The military’s aircraft have repeatedly targeted Rapid Support Forces troops and the paramilitary group has reportedly used drones and anti-aircraft weapons against the military.

Saturday’s strike hit the Yormouk neighborhood in southern Khartoum, where clashes have centered in recent weeks, according to Sudan’s Ministry of Health. The area houses a military facility controlled by the army. At least 25 houses were destroyed, the ministry wrote in a Facebook post.

The dead included five children and an unknown number of women and elderly people and some wounded people were hospitalized, the ministry said.

The Emergency Room, a local group that helps organize humanitarian aid in the area, said at least 11 people were wounded in the strike. It posted images it said were of houses damaged in the attack and people searching through rubble. Other images claimed to show a wounded girl and man.

The United States and Saudi Arabia announced late Saturday that the warring sides agreed to a 72-hour cease-fire across the African country. The new cease-fire would take effect this morning Khartoum time, according to a joint U.S.-Saudi statement.

The statement said the military and the Rapid Support Forces agreed to stop fighting and “refrain from seeking military advantage during the cease-fire.” The U.S. and Saudi Arabia urged the warring sides to fully implement the cease-fire, which comes ahead of a pledging conference to fund the increasing humanitarian needs in the African country.

For weeks, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been mediating between the warring parties. Multiple cease-fire agreements failed to stop the raging fighting across Sudan.

The clashes between the military and Rapid Support Forces have killed more than 3,000 people and wounded over 6,000 others, Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim said in an interview late Saturday with the Saudi-owned television station Al-Hadath.

Activists and residents have reported widespread looting in the capital. Diplomatic missions, including residences belonging to the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, have been stormed and looted, allegedly by armed men wearing Rapid Support Forces uniforms.

“Looting was fairly extensive at some of the residences,” the U.S. Department of State told The Associated Press. “The damage was discovered during routine checks of the residences. There is some damage to the structures and personal property.”

Sexual violence, including the rape of women and girls, has been reported in Khartoum and the western Darfur region, which have seen some of the worst fighting in the conflict.

The Darfur city of Genena has experienced some of the worst battles, with tens of thousands of its residents fleeing to neighboring Chad.

Martin Griffiths, the U.N.’s top humanitarian official, urged the international community to intervene to avert another cycle of violence such as the one Darfur experienced in the early 2000s when it was the scene of a genocidal war.