Artillery fire, street fighting and explosions shook Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, on Tuesday, where the army and paramilitaries continue to fight for power as the humanitarian crisis worsens.
In the heart of the capital, on the island of Tuti, at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, the paramilitaries block the only bridge and prevent the inhabitants from using the boats connecting the island to the rest of Khartoum, a group of pro-democracy lawyers said on Tuesday.
The paramilitaries “shoot at anyone who approaches the shore”, according to these lawyers.
“It’s a complete siege and if it continues, the food will run out in the shops,” worries Mohammed Youssouf, a resident of the island, in a telephone conversation with AFP.
In Khartoum, the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane confronts the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as Hemedti, in combat “with all types of weapons”, told AFP of the inhabitants of the south of the city.
“Civilians have been injured in the fighting,” said the resistance committees, which organize mutual aid between residents, on Tuesday.
The violence of the explosions “shake the walls of houses”, according to testimonies. Others reported “heavy artillery fire” coming from army barracks in the northern suburbs.
In northern Khartoum, “several dozen demonstrators” gathered, according to witnesses, shouting “Burhane is an assassin, Hemedti is an assassin”.
The conflict that broke out on April 15 left more than 1,800 dead, according to the NGO ACLED, which specializes in collecting information in conflict zones. More than one and a half million people have left their homes, according to the UN.
“We are facing a severe humanitarian crisis which will only get worse with the collapse of the economy and the health system,” warned the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). .
According to her, “the approaching rainy season, combined with the impending hunger crisis and the epidemics which now seem inevitable”, such as cholera and malaria, will aggravate the situation.
In Sudan, already one of the poorest countries in the world before the war, 25 of the 45 million inhabitants are now in need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN.
On May 31, the military withdrew from negotiations that aimed to create safe corridors for civilians and humanitarian aid.
On June 1, the United States and Saudi Arabia, mediators between the two camps, announced the suspension of these negotiations before Washington announced sanctions against companies associated with the army and the paramilitaries.
The United States then said it was ready to resume discussions in Jeddah with the emissaries of the two camps if they were “serious” in their desire to respect the ceasefire. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, where the conflict in Sudan will be on the menu for his talks.
General Burhane said on Tuesday he received a phone call from Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhane setting out the conditions for a resumption of negotiations.
The army chief “insisted on the need” for the paramilitaries to leave the hospitals and the houses they occupy, and “open humanitarian corridors”, according to an army statement.
General Daglo announced that he had also received a call from the Saudi minister two days earlier, in which he reiterated his “support” for negotiations.
But while both sides claim to be defending civilians, the United Nations mission in Sudan announced on Monday that dozens of acts of violence, including murders, attacks on hospitals, sexual violence or against children, committed by both parties, were being investigated by human rights defenders.
06/06/2023 20:24:45 – Khartoum (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
