Sudanese Capital Witness Renewed Shelling and Fighting

Residents of the Sudanese capital were woken yesterday by renewed shelling and fighting as a three-day truce between the army and the Rapid Support Forces ended, while intense violence began in South Kordofan state from early morning, eyewitnesses told AFP.

Violence Breaks Out After Truce Ends

Yesterday, with the end of the truce, the Northern Umm region witnessed the “artillery shelling” of Durman (north-west of the capital), while fighter jets flew over it. In the south of Omdurman, others reported clashes with various types of weapons in the vicinity of the Engineering Corps, and in the south country in the state of South Kordofan in the city of Dilling, a local resident confirmed to AFP: “Since three in the morning we have been hearing explosions, heavy shooting and shells hitting residential areas.”

Fire Breaks Out on Last Day of Truce

The fire broke out on Tuesday evening at the intelligence headquarters in the capital, on the last day of the 72-hour truce, which ended on Wednesday at 6 am. An army source told AFP that the Rapid Support Forces “bombed the building” in violation of the truce. A source in the Rapid Support Forces replied: “The army march bombed the building where members of the Rapid Support Forces had gathered, and indicated that the bombardment “caused a fire and partial destruction of the intelligence headquarters.”

Thousands Dead in Ongoing Fighting

The ongoing fighting between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s army and General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces has resulted in more than 2,000 deaths, according to estimates that experts say are far fewer than the reality.

Conflict Takes on Ethnic Dimension

In El Geneina, the capital of the state of Western Darfur in the west of the country and the city most affected by the war, the deserted streets are littered with corpses and shops have been looted. The United Nations, the African Union and IGAD have warned that the conflict has “now taken on an ethnic dimension” and raised the possibility of “crimes against humanity” in Darfur.

Refugees Fleeing On Foot

For several days, the people of El Geneina fled on foot in long lines, taking with them everything they could, hoping to reach Chad, located 20 kilometers to the west. Those fleeing the battlefield say they were shot and searched several times along the way. According to Médecins Sans Frontières, “15,000 Sudanese, including some 900 wounded, fled to the city of Adreh in Chad, which has hosted more than 150,000 refugees to date, under heavy fire from the army, the Rapid Support Forces, tribal fighters, and armed civilians.

Over 2.5 Million Refugees and Displaced Persons

According to the UNHCR, the number of displaced persons has reached “two million”, while the International Organization for Migration has counted “550,000 people who have fled to neighboring countries”. to provide $1.5 billion in aid, half of what humanitarian organizations need, according to their estimates on the ground. According to the UN, 25 million people, more than half of Sudan’s population, depend on humanitarian aid to survive in a country that is plunging into destruction and violence at an “unprecedented” rate. And World Food Program Sudan director Eddie Rao warned on Tuesday that “humanitarian needs are at record levels at a time when there is no sign of an end to the conflict.”