Clashes are still violent in Sudan, where the capital, Khartoum, has been witnessing violent clashes since Saturday, April 15, between paramilitary groups and the regular army, leaving nearly 100 dead. The international community is increasing calls for a ceasefire while on the ground, the situation remains unclear. “Lopes” assesses.
• A conflict in the making for weeks
For weeks, 45 million Sudanese have watched anxiously as the gap widens between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and second-in-command Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR). ). The FSR brings together thousands of ex-Janjaweed, those Arab militia recruited by dictator Omar al-Bashir to implement a scorched earth policy in Darfur (west).
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In October 2021, the two generals joined forces to oust the civilians with whom they had shared power since the fall of Omar al-Bashir in 2019. But the breaches in that union quickly became apparent: Hemedti repeatedly denounced the decision.” Loss “ from a reversal “Old system” Al-Bashir said.
From Burma to Sudan, great gains for the putschists
On Saturday, their men engaged in a pitched battle, and since then Khartoum and other towns have been rocked by rifle fire and airstrikes.
• No less than 97 civilians were killed
Since then, the fighting with heavy weapons has not stopped and the Air Force has regularly targeted the Federal Security Forces, even in central Khartoum. Paramilitary groups, which have become the official auxiliary forces of the army, are deployed in the capital in uniform and weapons, fighting for control of the country’s infrastructure.
In the capital, which smells of gunpowder, partly deprived of water and electricity, residents are barricaded in their homes while thick black smoke billows from the city center where the political and military establishments sit.
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At least 97 civilians were killed, according to the official Doctors Syndicate, including 56 on Saturday and 41 on Sunday, and about half of them in Khartoum, and the number of dead fighters can be counted. “tens”.
• The situation is still unclear
The army confirmed on Sunday evening that the situation was “extremely stable” While FSRs said to each other On the road to final victory.
Indeed, on Monday it is impossible to know which force controls what. And the FSR announced that it had captured the airport and entered the presidential palace, which the military denied. The army in particular claims to maintain its staff headquarters, one of the main force complexes, in Khartoum.
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As for state television, both parties claim to have acquired it. But residents of the surrounding areas talk about constant fighting on the air, and only patriotic songs are broadcast, as during the coup.
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• Doctors and aid workers sounded the alarm
Although no truce appears, doctors and humanitarian workers are deeply concerned: In normal times, in Sudan, homes are only supplied with electricity for a few hours a day. In some areas of Khartoum, it has been completely cut off since Saturday, such as running water.
Doctors declared a power outage in the operating rooms and according to the World Health Organization, Many of Khartoum’s nine hospitals receiving wounded civilians have run out of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids and other vital items.. Patients and sometimes children and their relatives “No more food or drink.”asserted a network of pro-democracy doctors, saying they could no longer allow patients to leave safely, which creates “Congestion prevents everyone from taking care of it”.
the Humanitarian corridors The three hours announced by the two sides on Sunday afternoon did not change the situation: all this time, explosions and gunfire did not stop in Khartoum.
And while more than a third of the 45 million Sudanese were in need of humanitarian aid before the recent outbreak of violence, the World Food Program also suspended its aid on Sunday after three of its staff were killed in Darfur (west).
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• The international community calls for an end to the violence
Since then, the international community has redoubled its calls for an end to the fighting. The League of Arab States and the African Union met urgently and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, will pay a visit ” immediately “ in Sudan To oblige the parties to cease fire.
France announced on Sunday “freak him out” After the deaths of workers from the World Food Program and the international relief NGO. Paris “It renews its call to do everything in its power to end the fighting and prevent any escalation.” and call b Full respect for the protection of humanitarian workers.In a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres “strongly condemned” He stressed that those responsible for the deaths of civilians should be “Bring to justice as soon as possible.” Buildings of the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations have also been bombed and looted in several places in Darfur.to regret.
Head of the United Nations Mission in Sudan Volker Berthes said for his part “very disappointed” That the army and paramilitaries only “partially respected” three hours out “humanitarian truce”.
The heads of US and British diplomacy, Anthony Blinken and James Cleverly, who are meeting in Japan for the G7 summit, called on Monday to “immediate termination” violence.
