Sudan Fighting: Thousands flee capital as ceasefire crumbles

GBDESK//

Thousands of residents yesterday fled Sudan’s capital, where witnesses said bodies lay in the street from fighting between the army and paramilitaries after a 24-hour truce failed to take hold.

At least 270 people have died and 2,600 have been injured in the five days of fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country, Sudan’s health ministry said.

Foreign diplomats have been attacked, and United Nations emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths said the UN had received “reports of attacks and sexual violence against aid workers”.

Governments started planning to evacuate their citizens, among them many UN staff.

The violence erupted on Saturday between the forces of two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup: army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

It followed a bitter dispute between them over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army — a key condition for a final deal aimed at restoring Sudan’s democratic transition.

“Life in Khartoum is impossible if this war does not stop,” said Alawya al-Tayeb, 33, on her way out of the capital.

“I tried to make children not see the slain bodies on the streets,” she said, adding that her children currently suffer from shock and will need treatment.

Deafening explosions rattled buildings and heavy gunfire was heard in Khartoum, as witnesses said plumes of thick black smoke emanated from buildings around the army headquarters in central Khartoum, reports AFP.

RSF fighters atop armoured vehicles and pickup trucks laden with weapons swarmed the streets. Fighter jets roared overhead and fired on RSF targets, the witnesses said.

Civilians huddled in their homes were becoming increasingly desperate, with dwindling food supplies, power outages, and a lack of running water.

A 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire announced by South Sudan failed to take hold at its proposed start at 1600 GMT on Tuesday.

Yesterday, the RSF said it would “fully commit to a complete ceasefire”, again from 1600 GMT and for 24 hours. The army had made no comment on such a development.

Thousands of people took matters into their own hands and, according to witnesses, began leaving their homes in Khartoum, some in cars and others on foot, including women and children.

They said the streets were littered with dead bodies, the stench of which filled the air.

“We are now on our way to Madani to stay with our relatives after my family and kids lived through the terror of explosions,” said Mohamed Saleh, 43, a government employee.

“We were very worried fighters would start storming homes.”

Out of 59 main hospitals in Khartoum, about 39 are currently “out of service”, said the official doctors’ union which reported “severe shortages” in remaining facilities.

Japan said its defence ministry had begun the “necessary preparations” to evacuate around 60 of its nationals from Sudan, including embassy staff.