The death toll rises to 330 and the wounded to nearly 3,200 in the fighting in Sudan between the Army and the RSF

20 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The death toll from the fighting that broke out on Saturday in Sudan between the Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has risen to more than 330 dead and nearly 3,200 wounded, according to the Organization’s director general. World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“The situation in Sudan is increasingly worrying and heartbreaking. More than 330 people have been killed so far and close to 3,200 have been injured. I condemn all the loss of life, especially the attacks on civilians and health facilities,” he said.

Thus, he stressed in a statement published on his official account on the social network Twitter that “reports about forces occupying medical facilities are deeply worrying” and recalled that “attacks against the health system are a flagrant violation of International Law and the right to health”. “They must stop”, she has stressed herself.

“Lack of safe access, electricity, food, water, personnel and dwindling medical supplies make it almost impossible for many medical facilities to function, at the very moment when thousands of injured need urgent care,” he lamented.

For this reason, Tedros has called on the parties to “respect the truce” so that “those caught up in the fighting can seek refuge, civilians can obtain food, water and medicine, and patients can seek the medical attention they need.” “Peace is the only solution”, he has settled.

The Army and the RSF agreed on a 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire on Tuesday, although it did not come into force due to the continuation of the fighting, which led to an exchange of accusations regarding responsibility for what happened. The parties agreed again on Wednesday to a ceasefire that will be in force until 6:00 p.m. this Thursday, although the clashes have continued.

The hostilities broke out on Saturday in the context of an increase in tensions around the reform of the security apparatus and the integration of the paramilitary force — led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’, who is also vice president of the Sovereign Council of Transition– within the Armed Forces, a key part of an agreement signed in December to form a new civilian government and reactivate the transition.

The talks process began with international mediation after the head of the Army and president of the Sovereign Transition Council, Abdelfatá al Burhan, led a coup in October 2021 that overthrew the then prime minister of unity, Abdalá Hamdok, appointed to the position as a result of contacts between civilians and the military after the April 2019 riot, which ended 30 years of the regime of Omar Hasan al Bashir.