New Sudan clashes despite truce, UN warns country at ‘breaking point’
Despite the formal prolongation of a ceasefire, fierce combat broke out again Monday between Sudan’s army and paramilitaries after the UN issued a warning that the humanitarian situation had reached “breaking point.”
Since fighting broke out between Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who leads the regular army, and his ex-deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who is in charge of the potent paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, on April 15, more than 500 people have died.
Since then, as jets on bombing flights have received heavy fire from anti-aircraft weapons, millions of Sudanese in the vicinity of the capital have concealed in their houses with diminishing supplies of food, water, and electricity.
One resident claimed that “warplanes are flying over southern Khartoum and anti-aircraft guns are firing at it,” and another witness told AFP that he could hear “loud gunfire” nearby.
Burhan and Daglo have often held ill-attended ceasefires, and on Sunday they extended the most recent formal ceasefire by 72 hours. Each side has blamed the other for the frequent violations.
Millions of Sudanese are stuck in the nation, where aid workers are among the dead, relief facilities have been stolen, and international aid organizations have been compelled to basically suspend all aid activities.
Martin Griffiths, a top UN official in charge of humanitarian affairs, announced on Sunday that he was moving to the area to “bring immediate relief to the millions of people whose lives have turned upside down overnight.”
He declared that “the humanitarian situation is breaking point.” In the urban areas most severely affected, especially Khartoum, basic goods are becoming scarce.
“The cost of transportation out of worst-hit areas has risen exponentially, leaving the most vulnerable unable to locate to safer areas.”
– 50,000 flee overland –
Some 50,000 people have fled the raging conflict, seeking refuge in neighbouring countries including Chad, Egypt, and the Central African Republic, said the UN refugee agency.
The fighting has also triggered a mass exodus of foreigners and international staff, with countries the world over launching frantic evacuations by land, sea, and air.
Daglo’s RSF is descended from the Janjaweed unleashed by former strongman Omar al-Bashir in Sudan’s Darfur region, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.
Further complicating the battlefield, Central Reserve Police were being deployed across Khartoum to “protect citizens’ properties” from looting, the Sudanese police said, confirming an army statement.
The RSF had warned police against joining the fight.
The US Treasury Department last year sanctioned the Central Reserve for “serious human rights abuses” related to its use of “excessive force” against pro-democracy protests after the October 2021 coup that brought Burhan and Daglo to power.
– UN facilities looted –
At least 528 people have been killed and almost 4,600 people wounded in the violence, according to Sudan’s health ministry, but the death toll is feared to be far higher.
Fighting has also spread across Sudan, especially in the long-troubled Darfur region, where witnesses reported intense conflict and looting.
At least 96 people were reported killed in El Geneina, West Darfur, the UN said.
The UN World Food Programme has warned the unrest could plunge millions more into hunger in a country where 15 million people already needed aid to stave off famine.
Only 16 percent of health facilities are functioning in Khartoum, according to the World Health Organisation, with many facilities shelled.
On Sunday, a first Red Cross plane brought eight tonnes of humanitarian aid from Jordan to Port Sudan, which is so far untouched by the fighting and has served as an evacuation hub.
The aid included surgical material and medical kits to stabilise 1,500 patients.
Regional powers have joined negotiations to help end the violence.
An envoy of Burhan’s met on Sunday in Riyadh with the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, who called for the restoration of calm in Sudan, his ministry said.
Egypt has called an Arab League meeting of its permanent delegates Monday to discuss the “situation in Sudan”.