2 yıl önce

Gunfire punctures 'armistice' as death toll from Sudan fighting climbs

Heavy gunfire shatters 24-hour truce shortly after it was due to take effect amid foreign pressure on warring military factions to halt fighting that has left some 270 people dead and 2,600 wounded.

AFP

People flee from southern Khartoum as fighting between the army and paramilitary forces led by rival generals rages for a fourth day.

Explosions have shaken Sudan's capital despite claims of a ceasefire on the fourth day of fighting that has killed nearly 270 people and wounded 2,600 others.

After international mediation, Rapid Support Forces [RSF] commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemetti, said he would support a 24-hour "armistice" starting on Tuesday, which the army denied any knowledge of before later blaming the RSF for breaking it.

The RSF had already accused the army of violating the agreement.

By 1600 GMT, the time of the supposed start to the ceasefire, gunfire could still be heard throughout the capital Khartoum, according to several witnesses, and it continued into the evening.

"As of now the fighting in Sudan, including Khartoum and various other locations, is continuing. No sign of real abatement of the fighting," the spokesperson for United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.

"The situation in #Sudan is deeply concerning. Sudan’s Ministry of Health Emergency Operations Center reports 270 people have been killed and more than 2,600 people have been injured. Tragically, three workers from @WFP have also been killed," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted.

Dagalo's announcement came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he spoke with the two generals and "underscored the urgent need for a ceasefire".

With the violence continuing to erupt, Japan announced on Wednesday that it is preparing to evacuate its citizens from the country.

Around 60 Japanese nationals are in Sudan, including embassy staff, top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said.

Earlier, foreign ministers of the G7, which includes the US, had also called for the warring parties to "end hostilities immediately", as loud explosions were heard in Khartoum.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ways to "stop military escalation, ending violence, and calming tensions" in Sudan.

Underscoring the chaos, Washington said one of its diplomatic convoys was fired upon, and the EU said its ambassador was attacked at home.

Aid groups have reported looting of medical and other supplies.

There are fears of regional spillover from the conflict that has included air strikes and artillery fire.

According to witnesses, pickup trucks carrying anti-aircraft guns — stationed in residential areas of Khartoum — were resupplied with ammunition on Tuesday morning.

Office and residential buildings in the city have been left with shattered windows and facades riddled with bullets.

'Keeping sanity intact'

Terrified residents of the capital are spending the holiest final days of Ramadan sheltering as tanks roll through the streets, buildings shake, and smoke from fires triggered by the fighting hangs in the air.

Others are fleeing.

"We haven't slept in the past four days," Khartoum resident Dallia Mohamed Abdelmoniem said, adding her family had been staying indoors "trying to keep our sanity intact".

Families waited on Tuesday, heavy suitcases in hand, for the few buses heading south from the capital, according to AFP news agency reporters, as more people use rare lulls in the fighting to escape Khartoum.

Many have lost power and internet connections, and when they do get online — searching for accurate news about attacks, reported looting, how safe it is to move and what pharmacies are still open — they face proliferating misinformation on social media.

Fighting between the army and paramilitaries in Sudan has killed over 200 people and wounded 1,800, damaging hospitals and hampering aid after four days of urban warfare.

The true number is thought to be far higher, with many wounded unable to reach hospitals, which are themselves being shelled, according to the official doctors' union.

A weeks-long power struggle exploded into deadly violence on Saturday between the forces of two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup, Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al Burhan and his deputy, Dagalo, who commands the paramilitary RSF.

Battles have taken place throughout the vast country, and there are fears of regional spillover.

SOURCE: AFP