The first professional female stage actor in Sudan was killed in fighting in the north of Khartoum on Wednesday.
Asia Abdelmajid, 80, was killed in a crossfire as the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continued their bloody conflict on the streets of Sudan’s capital.
An acclaimed actor, Abdelmajid burst onto the scene in a 1965 production of the play Pamseeka, which was performed at the national theatre in Omdurman to mark the anniversary of Sudan’s first revolution against a coup leader.
She was considered a pioneer in her craft and later became a teacher.
Abdelmajid’s family told the BBC she was buried just hours after her shooting on Wednesday morning in the grounds of a kindergarten where she had been most recently working.
It is not clear who fired the shot that killed her during ongoing clashes in the northern suburb of Bahri, or Khartoum North.
Sources on the ground in Khartoum told Middle East Eye that the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, continues to dominate in Bahri, south and east Khartoum, and south Omdurman.
Footage emerged on Thursday of army soldiers celebrating in Khartoum North as they claimed victory over the RSF in the city. The army says it has been patrolling the area around Khartoum’s airport, looking to flush out RSF fighters.
Eyewitnesses told MEE that there was still fighting around key strategic buildings in the airport district, including the army headquarters and the presidential palace. Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) air strikes are ongoing, with an Egyptian military source telling MEE that Egyptian pilots are flying some of the planes.
Seeking to upset its rival’s aerial supremacy, the RSF has reportedly taken in a new supply of man-portable air-defence systems, known as Mpads.
More than 500 people have been killed and over 4,000 injured since fighting broke out in Sudan on 15 April. About 334,000 people are estimated to have been internally displaced, and over 100,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the UN.
