The attack, blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), targeted worshippers as they gathered for evening prayers at a mosque in the East Nile district of Khartoum on Sunday, said the Emergency Lawyers network, which has been documenting abuses by both the army and the RSF since the conflict erupted in April 2023.

This is the second reported attack on civilians since the RSF lost central Khartoum, including the presidential palace, in a major army offensive on Friday.

On Sunday, RSF artillery also pounded Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, killing three civilians in what eyewitnesses described as some of the heaviest bombardments in recent months.

For nearly two years, Sudan has been ravaged by a war between the regular army and the RSF, a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted over 12 million more and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.

While in recent days, the army and allied armed groups have clawed back much of Khartoum's government district, the RSF still holds ground in parts of the city centre -- including the airport -- as well as the capital's south and west.

From their positions in western Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum, paramilitary fighters have regularly launched strikes on residential areas.