Sudanese forces clash in Khartoum after talks break down

 

Photo d'archives: De la fumée s'élève au-dessus des bâtiments après un bombardement aérien, lors d'affrontements entre les paramilitaires des Forces de soutien rapide et l'armée régulière à Khartoum Nord, au Soudan. /Photo prise le 1er mai 2023/REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Following the failure of negotiations to maintain a ceasefire and ameliorate a humanitarian catastrophe, the warring parties in Sudan engaged in fighting in the capital on Friday.

 

On the other side of the Nile, residents of Khartoum and Omdurman said that the army had restarted airstrikes and was employing heavier artillery. However, they claimed there was no indication the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were leaving the homes and streets they had taken over.

 

 

"This war is costing us a great deal. There have been sounds of violence since early morning. We are surrounded by horror. It is a true nightmare, said 31-year-old Shehab al-Din Abdalrahman in a southern Khartoum neighborhood.

 

After seven weeks of fighting between the army and RSF, portions of central Khartoum have been destroyed, the region has been threatened with destabilization, 1.2 million people have been displaced within Sudan, and 400,000 more have been evacuated to neighboring states.

 

According to a statement, the United Nations Security Council denounced attacks on civilians on Friday and urged the warring parties to put an end to hostilities and permit humanitarian aid to reach every part of the nation.

 

After mediating a ceasefire that failed, the United States and Saudi Arabia on Thursday terminated truce talks and accused both sides of occupying buildings, conducting airstrikes and other types of attacks, and engaging in unlawful military activity.

 

Washington imposed sanctions on businesses belonging to the army and RSF and threatened more action "if the parties continue to destroy their country", a senior U.S. official said.

 

The army said on Friday it was "surprised" by the U.S. and Saudi decision to suspend the negotiations after it had made proposals for implementing the agreement, blaming the RSF for breaching the truce. The RSF on Friday blamed the army for the talks' collapse, accusing it of repeated violations.

 

Sudan's ambassador to Washington, Mohamed Abdallah Idris, said the government and army remained committed to the truce and any penalties should be "imposed on the party that did not abide by what it signed" - a reference to the RSF.

 

Since Omar al-Bashir's prolonged dictatorship was overthrown in 2019, Sudan has been governed by a sovereign council led by General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, head of the army, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the RSF and known as Hemedti, his deputy.

 

Burhan claimed to have removed Hemedti from the council after they declared war on each other on April 15; as a result, government agencies have continued to support the army.

 

The province of Darfur, where a civil conflict that began in 2003 and has already claimed over 300,000 lives, has seen the deadliest fighting outside of Khartoum.

 

Since the most recent fighting broke out, more than 100,000 people have fled militia attacks in western Darfur to neighboring Chad, and the number might treble in the next three months, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR warned on Thursday.

 

A ceasefire was intended to make it possible to transfer help to residents caught up in the conflict, which has destroyed hospitals, cut off water and power systems, and made it difficult to distribute food.

 

help workers in Sudan claim that intense fighting, widespread looting, and mountains of paperwork are impeding help. All sides were urged by the UN to respect humanitarian efforts.

 

Egypt announced on Friday that it will collaborate with Qatar to provide humanitarian aid to refugees.

 

The WFP said it had recorded losses of more than $60 million since the fighting began. The UNHCR said two of its offices in Khartoum were pillaged and its warehouse in El Obeid was targeted on Thursday.

 

Khartoum residents are bracing for more problems.

 

"Since yesterday one telecom network has been down. Today another one is down. The power is out but the water has come back. It's like they're alternating forms of torture," said Omer Ibrahim, who lives in Omdurman.

Source: Reuters