Sudan Conflict: Twin Sisters Recall Horror as Shelling Hits Their School
What began as an ordinary school day for 18-year-old twins Makarem and Ikram turned into a nightmare when their school came under shellfire in el-Obeid, a city in central Sudan affected by ongoing conflict.
Makarem was attending an English literature class, while her twin sister Ikram was in a science lesson, when both heard what Makarem described as “strange sounds” coming from outside the school compound.
Moments later, the shelling began.
“I felt my shoulder tilt,” Makarem recalled, describing the instant she was struck by shrapnel. As panic spread through the classroom, students screamed and dropped to the floor, desperately seeking cover from the incoming fire.
“We took cover beside the wall, and the girl standing in front of me put her hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Your shoulder is bleeding,’” she said.
Amid the chaos, the twins — who had been in separate classrooms — tried to find each other but were unable to reunite. Makarem, badly injured, was taken to hospital by local residents who rushed the wounded using private cars and animal-drawn carts, as there was no functioning ambulance service in el-Obeid at the time.
Ikram, unaware that her sister had already been taken for treatment, searched frantically through the school grounds, fearing the worst. Teachers and classmates eventually persuaded her to stop searching and return home.
It was only later that day, when Makarem arrived home from the hospital, that the family realised she had survived.
“I waited for her outside the front door,” Ikram said. “When I saw her coming, we all cried.”
Ikram, who had been in a part of the school that was not hit by the shelling, escaped without injury. For the family, the relief of being reunited came after hours of fear and uncertainty — a reality faced by many civilians, especially children, caught in Sudan’s ongoing conflict.
The sisters’ story highlights the growing dangers faced by students across Sudan, where fighting has disrupted education, destroyed infrastructure, and left communities relying on each other for survival amid the collapse of basic emergency services.
Source: BBC News