Fighting intensified in Sudan, and more than 180 people were killed in three days

More than 180 people have been killed in Sudan, where the power struggle between the two generals in charge has intensified since the 2021 coup.

From Burma to Sudan, great gains for the putschists

In the skies over Khartoum, the army planes of Major General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto leader of the country since the 2021 coup, are trying to overcome heavy fire from the armored vehicles of the Rapid Support Forces. ) General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo said “Hamidti”It is his second on the coup, which has become his sworn enemy since Saturday.

At least two hospitals in the capital have been evacuated “Rockets and bullets also destroyed its walls.”announced doctors who say they no longer have blood bags or equipment to treat the wounded.

shoot

In addition to the shootout, which left three staff members of the World Food Program (WFP) dead in Darfur (west), humanitarian workers now also have to deal with looting, Save the Children reports. Several NGOs and UN agencies have already announced they are suspending their activities, a blow in a country where hunger affects more than one in three of the population.

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Doctors Without Borders said it received 136 wounded people on Monday in its last functioning hospital in North Darfur. “The majority of those caught in the shooting are civilians, many of whom are children.”NGO Reports. “eleven died” Saturday and Sunday due to lack of equipment and personnel.

In Khartoum, since fighting broke out on Saturday, residents have barricaded themselves in their homes. Above them, columns of thick black smoke rise, the smell of gunpowder tickles their nostrils and everyone wonders when the electricity and running water will be back on.

regional effects

With each new air strike or artillery bombardment, parents and children jump, say families who have never witnessed such violence in the capital of a country that four years ago embarked on a transition that was meant to be a democracy. The few grocery stores open, she warned, would only last a day or two if no trucks entered to supply the city.

More than 180 people have been killed, according to the United Nations, and at least 1,800 people have been injured. The belligerents never talked about their losses. The United Nations calls the generals to “Cease hostilities immediately.” Because they can be ‘Devastating for the country and the entire region’. But the UN envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, said he was not very optimistic about the prospects for a return to dialogue during a press conference in which it appeared to be a decree.

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The conflict had been dormant for weeks between Gen. Burhan and Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, whose former militiamen from the war in the Darfur region became official auxiliaries to the army in recent years. On Monday, diplomatic contacts seemed to intensify.

At the end of the day, Egypt, a large and influential neighbor, announced that it had discussed the situation with Saudi Arabia, South Sudan and Djibouti, and three other important players in Sudan, as well as with Paris. For its part, Qatar has spoken with the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Musa Faki Mahamat, that it is supposed to head as soon as possible to Sudan, which is no longer flying over.

In the midst of a media war, the belligerents continued to launch an offensive against each other: “Al-Burhan bombs civilians from the air, and we are prosecuting him and bringing him to justice.”, General Daglo launched, in English, on Twitter. In contrast, the army confirmed on Facebook “So close to the hour of final victory”.

“For the first time in Khartoum”

It was still impossible on Monday to tell which force controlled what. And the FSR announced that it had captured the airport and entered the presidential palace, which the military denied. The army claims to maintain its headquarters, one of the main force compounds, in Khartoum.

As for state television, after two days of fighting in its vicinity, it is now broadcasting pictures and press releases from the army, which claims to have regained ground in many places.

“It is the first time in Sudan’s history since independence (1956) that there is such a level of violence in the centre, in Khartoum”Kholoud Khair, who founded the Confluence Advisory think tank in Khartoum, confirmed to AFP. Khartoum “It was always the safest place in Sudan, during the deadly wars against the rebels.” It started in Darfur and elsewhere in the 2000s, she continues.

But since Saturday, doctors have reported power outages in operating rooms, and they say patients and sometimes children and their relatives “No more food or drink.”.

Today, the fighting is all over the city, and the FSR was set up everywhere and especially in densely populated areas because the belligerents believed that the prospect of high civilian casualties would deter the other camp: now we know that their struggle for power at all costs has been won.”Eternity summed up well.