Air raids kill at least 40 in Sudan capital: local group

At least 40 people were killed and dozens injured in air strikes on a neighbourhood in the south of Sudan's capital Khartoum, local activists said, revising a previous toll.

"The number of victims of the Quoro market massacre" had risen to 40 by the afternoon, the committee said on Sunday, revising its previous toll of 30 killed.

The committee said more deaths were expected, as casualties continued to pour into the nearby Bashair hospital.

"At about 7:15 am (0515 GMT), military aircraft bombarded the Qouro market area," said the local resistance committee, on early Sunday morning, one of the groups that used to organise pro-democracy protests and now assists in the war.

"The number of victims of the Qouro market massacre" had risen to 40 by 10:13 am (0813 GMT), three hours after military aircraft bombarded the area, said the local resistance committee, after initially giving a death toll of 11.

The hospital meanwhile issued an "urgent appeal" for all medical professionals in the area to come and help treat the "increasing number of injured people arriving".

Since April 15, Sudan has been gripped by a devastating war pitting the regular army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Nearly 7,500 people have been killed in nearly five months of fighting, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

The real death toll is presumed to be much higher as access to many areas has been cut off completely, and the warring sides have not declared their losses.

The fighting, concentrated mainly in Khartoum and the western region of Darfur, has also forced nearly five million people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

Multiple international efforts have failed to mediate a ceasefire in the conflict.