Thousands flee Sudan capital following collapse of truce
Thousands of residents fled Sudan’s capital Wednesday as fighting between the army and paramilitaries raged for a fifth day after a 24-hour truce collapsed. Roughly 200 people have already been killed.
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 Dagalo, better known as “Hemedti”, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
It followed a bitter dispute between Burhan and Dagalo over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army – a key condition for a final deal aimed at resuming Sudan’s democratic transition.
“The fighting in Khartoum continues and [the sources] say they could hear gunshots all night long, and that now planes are flying over the city bombing locations that they [the army] believe belong to the RSF. The RSF is fighting these planes, shooting anti-aircraft artillery.”
Civilians huddled in their homes were becoming increasingly desperate, with dwindling food supplies, power outages, and a lack of running water.
Their hopes of being evacuated were dashed on Tuesday when a 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire collapsed within minutes of its proposed start at 1600 GMT.
Streets littered with bodies
On Wednesday morning, thousands of people took matters into their own hands and 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.
Governments have starting planning to evacuate thousands of foreigners, among them many UN staff.
Japan said on Wednesday that its defence ministry had begun the “necessary preparations” to evacuate around 60 of its nationals from Sudan, including embassy staff.
After the truce collapsed, the army accused the “rebel militia” of failing to commit to it and of continuing “skirmishes around the army headquarters and the airport”.
The RSF in turn accused the army of “committing violations” and breaching the ceasefire by launching “sporadic attacks” on its forces and bases around the capital.
FRANCE 24’s Renouil said that the ongoing “communication war” between the army and the RSF has made it extremely difficult to know exactly what is going on.
“If the RSF publishes a statement saying that they are in control of this or that building and institution, the army publishes another statement saying that ‘no, that’s not the case’ and that they’re [the ones in control]. So it’s impossible to know exactly what is happening on the ground.”
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