2008 attack on Omdurman and Khartoum that the War in Darfur, previously confined to western Sudan, reached the country's capital. Overall, the war has claimed the lives of up to 300,000 people, with 2.5 million more made homeless since 2003 (the United States has labeled the conflict in Darfur as genocide, a charge the Sudanese government has rejected). Despite decades of warfare in Southern Sudan, Khartoum had not experienced any street fighting since 1976. On May 10, 2008, Sudanese National Islamic Front (NIF) government troops and a large group of rebels from Darfur clashed in the city of Omdurman, opposite of Khartoum. Witnesses reported heavy gunfire
Khartoum North pharmaceutical factory was destroyed by a cruise missile because the United States accused the factory of making VX (nerve agent) for al-Qaeda. The industrial centre of the region and the country, the neighborhood contains dockyards, marine and rail workshops, and sawmills. Khartoum North trades in cotton, grains, fruit, and livestock; industries include tanning, brewing, brickmaking, textile weaving, and food processing. Since the year 2000, chemical plants supplying household products to the rest of the country have been built in the neighborhood . A wealthy suburb is growing towards the eastern part of the neighborhood , along the Blue Nile. Khartoum