[This picture taken on September 17, 2023 shows the start of a fire raging at the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower in Khartoum. (Image Source: AFP)]
Khartoum: The Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC) Tower in the heart of Sudan’s capital Khartoum is engulfed in flames as fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary group started six months ago escalated.
It is not yet clear how the fire started in one of the tallest buildings in Khartoum or whether anyone was killed.
However the Sudanese media reported that the instantly recognisable office tower located in downtown Khartoum, caught fire early on Sunday during clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The RSF has been fighting to take control of Sudan’s capital.
Online videos and clips of the fire showed clouds of dark smoke rising from the burned-out 18-storey oil firm glass tower.
“This is truly painful,” said Tagreed Abdin, the architect of the building, in a post on social media platform X. "The landmark project defined the skyline of Khartoum. Such senseless destruction", he added.
“This is truly painful,” said Tagreed Abdin, the architect of the building, in a post on social media platform X.
"The landmark project defined the skyline of Khartoum. Such senseless destruction", he added.
The ongoing battle between the rival groups left three key landmark towers in the Al Mugran district gutted by fire including GNPOC, the Ministry of Justice, and the Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organization.
The violence in Sudan began on April 15 this year triggered by a power struggle between the leaders of the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It followed days of tension as members of the RSF were redeployed around the country in a move that the army saw as a threat, according to BBC.
The Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC) Tower in the heart of #Sudan’s capital #Khartoum is engulfed in flames as fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary group started six months ago escalated. #Sudan_War_Updates pic.twitter.com/odIRZ3vDwI— ummid.com (@ummid) September 18, 2023
The Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC) Tower in the heart of #Sudan’s capital #Khartoum is engulfed in flames as fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary group started six months ago escalated. #Sudan_War_Updates pic.twitter.com/odIRZ3vDwI
The conflict has reduced Khartoum to an urban war zone. In Greater Khartoum, RSF troops have commandeered civilian homes and turned them into operational bases, while the military has responded by bombing the residential areas, rights groups and activists say.
In the western Darfur region, the conflict has morphed into ethnic violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias attacking ethnic African groups, according to rights groups and the United Nations, according to Al Jazeera.
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