At least 23 persons have been killed, and 40 others were injured after air strikes by the Sudanese army hit Khartoum.

Traders, shoppers, and others were among the victims of the airstrikes. 

According to a Nobel Prize-nominated rescue network Emergency Response Rooms spokesman, the wounded are being treated in the hospital.

Emergency responders report that hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of injured.

The airstrikes, which occurred at the weekend, targeted the main camp occupied by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in southern Khartoum.

It also hits the central market and a nearby residential area.

The RSF RSF have been battling the military in an 18-month civil war that has claimed up to 150,000 lives and displaced a fifth of Sudan’s population, according to UN estimates.

Fierce fighting has escalated around Khartoum, which has been largely controlled by the RSF since Friday. 

The military has also intensified airstrikes in the city’s centre and southern belt. 

Several witnesses say the army is advancing towards Khartoum from nearby Omdurman, where clashes erupted on Saturday.

The Sudanese government presented the UN Security Council with what it called new evidence that the United Arab Emirates is arming and supporting the RSF and called for action against the Gulf state.

Although UAE has long denied that it is backing the RSF, the former and the Sudanese Armed Forces have been accused of committing atrocities.

“Relentless hostilities across the country have brought misery to millions of civilians, triggering the world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis,” the UN warned last month.