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The shootings and bombardments continue in Sudan this Wednesday, April 19, after the breach of a temporary ceasefire agreed a day before, with the mediation of the United States, between the Army and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which They dispute control of the country. Both parties accuse each other of breaking the truce. Meanwhile, different governments are trying to get their citizens out of the African nation amid crossfire and increasing food shortages.
The streets of Khartoum continue to be hell for civilians, for the fifth consecutive day after the outbreak of violence on Saturday, April 15.
Despite the supposed 24-hour truce agreed on Tuesday, April 18 in the afternoon, this Wednesday the Sudanese capital woke up to crossfire between the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FAR) and the Army, who co-direct the so-called Council Sovereign for the transition to an eventual civil Government and that power is disputed.
In the last few hours, the FAR issued a statement stating that they will initiate a ceasefire starting at 4:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, April 19. His counterpart has not yet ruled on the matter.
“We confirm our full commitment to a complete ceasefire, and we expect the other party to comply with the ceasefire in accordance with the announced time frame,” RSF added in a statement.
But the violence continues and leaves around 200 people dead since last weekend, as confirmed by the UN, although the number may be higher amid the ongoing clashes.
Corpses in the streets and armored cars completely burnt out, that was the panorama of Khartoum during the supposed truce, despite the requests of the international community to establish humanitarian corridors and get civilians out of the city.
“There is no ceasefire,” Bastien Renouil, a regional correspondent for France 24, reported, citing sources on the ground from Nairobi.
As thick smoke billowed into the sky, continuous shelling and loud explosions could be heard from the center of Khartoum from around the heavily contested Ministry of Defense complex and airport during the early hours of April 19.
With no water supply, no electricity and a dwindling food supply, Sudanese caught up in the conflict are beginning to despair. Therefore, this Wednesday morning thousands of people began to leave their homes in Khartoum, entire families left the city by car or on foot.
“Some water and electricity supply centers have been damaged (…). The residential area of Riyadh, in the east of Khartoum, has been without water and electricity for 48 hours. Solidarity is being organized with the neighbors who have a generator electric that still works. But soon they will run out of fuel to power it,” independent journalist Augustine Passilly told France 24.
“We can no longer be here, there is nothing anymore,” a Khartoum resident told Reuters.
The failure of the democratic transition
The Rapid Support Forces (FAR), led by General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo or “Hemedti”, and the Army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, exchanged accusations of not respecting the truce amid the chaos. After mediation by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, both sides had agreed to a cessation of hostilities starting Tuesday afternoon, but the shooting did not stop at any time.
“If the FAR publishes a statement saying that they control a building or institution, the Army publishes another statement saying that ‘no, it is not like that’ and that they are the ones in control. So it is impossible to know exactly what is happening on the ground,” Renouil said, in what he called a “communications war.”
In this context, the different embassies in Sudan try to get their citizens out of the country. A complicated task in the midst of crossfire and with international flights suspended.
On Monday, April 17, a US diplomatic convoy was shot at, the European Union ambassador was “attacked at his residence” in Khartoum and the Belgian head of the EU humanitarian mission was “hospitalized” after being shot.
The clashes have derailed the latest internationally supported plan for the country’s democratic transition four years after the fall of Omar al-Bashir, who spent three decades in power.
Following massive protests against him, al-Burhane and Dagalo together toppled al-Bashir in April 2019. But now, both call themselves the “saviors” of democracy in Sudan and are vying for power.
Al-Burhane heads an interim governing council, while Dagalo has served as his deputy on that body. In recent months, they have differed on various issues such as the calendar for the country’s democratic elections or the integration of the FAR into the Army.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was the strong police repression against demonstrators who demanded the start of the transition to democracy and which has resulted in at least 120 civilian deaths in recent months.
With Reuters and AFP
