At least 40 people were killed in a drone attack on an open market south of the Sudanese capital on Sunday, as the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) battle for control of the country.

According to a report by Al Jazeera, the drone attack was carried out by the Sudanese Army and added that it is not clear whether all the victims were civilians, but “there is a dire need for medical assistance for those who have been injured”.

The casualties are being treated at the Bashair University Hospital, and many of them will require amputations, the report stated.

The resistance committees and two healthcare workers at the Bashair University Hospital said that at least 70 others have been injured in Khartoum's Mayo neighbourhood. They also shared footage of bodies wrapped in white sheets in an open yard at the hospital on social media platforms. 

Indiscriminate shelling and air attacks by both factions have become common in Sudan's war which has reduced the greater Khartoum area to a battleground. There are still no talks between the RSF and the Sudanese army even after five months of the conflict. 

Meanwhile, Sudanese Army head General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stressed that the army welcomes initiatives including the Jeddah Forum but will not allow “any unacceptable interference”.

Sudan has been witnessing violent attacks since mid-April as the tensions between Sudan's military, led by al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, burst into open fighting.