On the second day of clashes that left dozens dead, fierce fighting has persisted in the capital of Sudan despite a brief ceasefire to address humanitarian concerns, including the evacuation of wounded.
According to the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, at least five people were murdered and 78 more injured on Sunday, bringing the two-day death toll to 61 and more than 1000 injuries.
According to Abdalla Hamdok, Former Sudanese Prime Minister:
“Peace remains the only feasible choice for the people of Sudan to avoid plunging the country into a civil war. Therefore, I call for an immediate cease-fire and to reach an agreement, which leads to a permanent cessation (of hostilities).”
The clashes are a result of a power struggle between Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces unit, and Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, chief of the armed forces.
The two generals were once close friends and jointly planned the military coup that overthrew Sudan’s ill-fated democratic transition in October 2021.
The world community is increasing its calls for a ceasefire after watching helplessly as the coup d’état occurred in October 2021 and failing to persuade the generals to approve a plan to end the situation. At the urgent request of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two major powers in Sudan, the Arab League will convene in Cairo at 9:00 GMT.
Violence broke out on Saturday morning in the streets of this 45 million-person nation, which is among the poorest in the world and has been torn apart by war for decades, between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, head of the army, and General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, also known as “Hemedti,” head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is composed of thousands of ex-combatants from the Darfur war.
On Sunday morning, there was further fighting. The night had been filled with explosions and gunshots, and the scent of gunpowder permeated the empty streets of Khartoum. The military had issued an evening Facebook warning: “Civilians must remain at home as the air force will execute operations to finish with the rebel militias of the Rapid Support”.
Witnesses claimed that violent gun clashes between military and paramilitary groups took place in the morning in Khartoum’s south and northern districts. Columns of smoke have been billowing from the city center, where the major institutions of power are housed, since Saturday, while men in fatigues and armed were strolling through streets devoid of inhabitants.
Firearms fire
In Kassala, which is located in the country’s coastal east, witnesses also reported artillery fire.
56 civilians were killed, more than half of them in Khartoum and its outskirts, according to pro-democracy physicians, while “dozens” of military and paramilitary troops also perished, though exact numbers are not yet available. Additionally, 600 or so people died.
Weeks of simmering tension prevented any political resolution in a nation attempting to hold its first democratic elections since 2019 after 30 years of Islamo-military dictatorship.
It is impossible to determine what is being held by which force. The army refuted the RSF’s claim that it had taken the airport in a matter of hours on Saturday. The presidential palace was allegedly under the control of the RSF. The general staff headquarters, one of the most important power centers in Khartoum, was being held hostage, according to the army, which disputed this.
