'It is beyond terrifying'

Why has the west turned its back on a devastating catastrophe?

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A friend had gone missing. Nothing unusual in Sudan's ruinous war, but Hitham Mohund knew it was vital to act quickly. However, in an abandoned home near the Nile River he stopped searching after making a grisly discovery: wedged inside a bathroom were three bodies. Hands tied, eyes staring upwards."

They were shot in the chest," said the 28-year-old, as he walked towards Maigoma Street, a dusty thoroughfare in north Khartoum, Sudan's capital.

It had been less than 24 hours since Mohund had found the bodies and his friend's whereabouts were still unknown. Around him, shoppers were chatting, some were even dancing, as the street staged its first Friday market for nearly two years, since the civil war erupted between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Three days earlier, the RSF had finally been pushed out of the Maigoma neighbourhood by the Sudanese army, and residents were in the mood to celebrate.

But even now, safety was an illusion. A shell suddenly exploded on the street. Moments later a donkey pulled a cart into the thoroughfare, carrying a wounded man.

"There was another random shelling yesterday," Mohund said, as the smoke cleared. "A home was hit."

The house belonged to the Mohammeds. At 7pm the day before, the family were preparing the main meal of the day. Awadin Mohammed was especially excited. Schools were starting to reopen. She remembers nothing of the moment an RSF projectile fell from the sky, flattening her home.

Dr Ahmed Ibrahim, senior consultant at Omdurman teaching hospital, recalls the 10-year-old arriving. "She had been hit with shrapnel and was bleeding heavily."

Normally a child arrives escorted by anguished family. Awadin had no one. The hospital director, Prof Abdul Moneim, said initially they waited for a relative. Still, no one came. So they began operating. A shard of metal 10cm square was removed from her colon.