Last weekend the strongest episode of violence broke out in the country since the 2021 coup. Today, the Sudanese ruling Council, led by Army General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, ordered the dissolution of the Forces Apoyo Rápido (FAR), a paramilitary movement with which it disputes absolute power, and which it declared a “rebel” group. As fighting continues for the third day in a row, the death toll approaches 100.
Tension and violence rise in Sudan. Shootings, bombardments and air strikes rocked Khartoum, the capital, this Monday, April 17, while the leader of the country’s Army, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, ordered the dissolution of the Rapid Support Forces (FAR) paramilitary movement, led by his archenemy the General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, and described it as a “rebel” group.
The order comes after a series of fighting broke out between the two parties on Saturday, April 15, which so far has left at least 97 civilians dead, including three United Nations workers. In addition, 365 people have been injured, according to a tally published by the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors.
However, the number of deaths and injuries may be higher, because the emergency teams indicate that they have not been able to travel to various areas of the country amid the intensity of the armed confrontations between the FAR and the Army, two sides that They have been fighting for power since the 2021 coup.
This Monday, some of the attacks occurred near a military barracks in the capital, while columns of smoke rose from the Khartoum International Airport runway after several explosions, images broadcast on local television showed.
In addition, the violence is spreading to other parts of the nation, with hundreds of residents reporting power outages and looting incidents. Fighting is also taking place in the western region of Darfur and in northern and eastern parts of Sudan, near the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia.
In any case, the Sudanese Army announced today its adherence to a new United Nations proposal to open humanitarian corridors for a period of three hours, an initiative that was adopted for the first time on Sunday and was partially respected. The FAR, for their part, have not ruled on whether or not they adhere to this pause.
In the midst of this panorama, the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, urged an immediate ceasefire.
“There is deep shared concern (with the international community) about the fighting and violence that is taking place in Sudan. The threat that it represents for civilians, that it represents for the nation and that it potentially even represents for the region”, highlighted Blinken in recent hours, during his participation in the G7 summit of foreign ministers, which is taking place in Japan. .
Fighting between SAF and RSF forces threatens the security and safety of Sudanese civilians and undermines efforts to restore Sudan’s democratic transition. The only way forward is to return to negotiations.
—Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) April 16, 2023
Critical situation in hospitals in Sudan
“Shooting and shelling is everywhere,” said Awadeya Mahmoud Koko, leader of a union of thousands of tea vendors, adding that a shell hit a neighbor’s house, killing at least three people. “We couldn’t take them to a hospital or bury them,” he added.
His words give an account of the difficult situation faced by hospitals throughout the national territory. Medical centers have also been bombed, as a result of which several have been put out of service and patient care is complicated.
“Hospitals and medical centers in Khartoum and other cities in Sudan were shelled with cannons and firearms,” leaving “serious damage,” the Sudanese Doctors Union said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that some hospitals in Khartoum are short of blood and other critical supplies to treat the wounded.
“Several of Khartoum’s nine hospitals receiving wounded civilians have run out of blood, transfusion sets, intravenous fluids and other vital supplies,” the WHO said.
Why did the current wave of hostilities spark?
The violence broke out after members of the FAR deployed in several cities in Sudan on April 15 without the consent of the Army.
The move was seen by the military institution as a threat by the paramilitary group. Both exercise control in the country in the absence of a government.
The general and leader of the Army, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, heads the so-called Sovereign Council for the transition of power in Sudan; while General Mohamed Hamdan is the vice president of that body and who leads the Rapid Support Forces.
The two men maintain that they would not negotiate a truce, while launching attacks and demanding the surrender of their counterpart.
The latest chapter in the tension between the two sides was sparked by a disagreement over the eventual integration of the FAR into the country’s armed forces, as part of a transition to civilian administration.
What is the background to the clashes in Sudan?
Beyond the latest disagreements, the instability and violence in Sudan respond to numerous coups d’état in the country, since its independence from the United Kingdom and Egypt, in 1959.
In recent years, the protracted struggle has centered between the Army and the FAR, after both cooperated in successive seizures of power by force.
The October 2021 coup unleashed a new political crisis after the then prime minister Abdalla Hamdok and most of the cabinet members and political party leaders were detained, thus hampering a brief transition to democracy, which began with the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
The nation was left in the hands of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan, who are currently they share power. As both sides dispute it, pro-democracy activists point out that the two generals have long histories of human rights abuses.
Simultaneously, the two leaders have the backing of foreign governments.
On the one hand, Egypt, which has long been wary of political change in Khartoum, is the most important backer of the Sudanese army. On the other, Mohamed Hamdanalso know as Hemedti, has cultivated ties with foreign powers such as the United Arab Emirates and Russia, raising concerns about a potential threat to the region.
The ongoing friction comes to a head after an internationally backed plan to launch a new transition with civilian parties broke down. A final pact was scheduled to be signed earlier this month, on the fourth anniversary of the ouster of autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
To do this, both the Army and the FAR were obliged to cede power, but two issues were particularly contentious: the timetable for the FAR to integrate into the regular armed forces and determining when the Army would be formally under civilian supervision.
Amid the ongoing violence that plan remains frustrated.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
