Residents say they hear gunfire Sunday in Khartoum, on the sixth day of a ceasefire that was supposed to expire on Monday evening, May 29, but never respected by the army and paramilitaries at war for power in Sudan since April 15 .
As fighting continues, Darfur’s governor has urged civilians in the vast western region to arm themselves, raising the specter of civil war.
Despite everything, Washington and Riyadh, which negotiated the current truce with the army of General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, have demanded its extension beyond its scheduled expiration on Monday at 7:45 p.m. GMT. “Both sides have told the mediators to aim for de-escalation (…) and yet they are positioning themselves for an escalation”, they denounce together.
In Khartoum, “we hear shooting in the south of the city,” residents told AFP on Sunday. The two camps tirelessly blame each other for having broken the truce supposed to clear passages for humanitarian aid and civilians. We must, argue Saudis and Americans, “give more time to humanitarians to carry out their vital work”.
The latter claim to have been unable to deliver very small quantities of food and medicine while 25 of the 45 million Sudanese now need help to survive according to the UN. And, if no safe corridor is cleared, the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has warned that it could be forced to suspend its activities. The war has claimed more than 1,800 lives, according to the NGO Acled.
Arms
The RSF said they were “ready to negotiate the extension of the ceasefire”, subject to the army respecting the current truce. The army said for its part “to examine the possibility of accepting an extension”. Yet, like those that preceded it, this ceasefire did not lead to a cessation of fighting.
In six weeks, they forced more than a million people to move and more than 300,000 others took refuge in neighboring countries, according to the UN.
The situation is particularly critical in Darfur, the region most affected by the fighting with Khartoum, which was already ravaged in the 2000s by a deadly war.
Its governor, former rebel leader Minni Minnawi, now close to the army, on Sunday called on “young and old, women and men, to take up arms to defend their property”. Already, according to the UN, armed civilians and tribal or rebel fighters have joined the clashes between soldiers and paramilitaries.
While, according to the Small Arms Survey (SAS) research project, 6.6% of Sudanese own a firearm, the army had already called on retired soldiers on Friday to take up arms. And in early May, in the east, hundreds of Beja tribesmen demonstrated to demand arms from General Al-Burhane.
Other actors could also make the choice of weapons. “People who belonged to non-violent movements are now thinking about arming themselves to protect themselves,” reports pro-democracy activist Raga Makawi.
African “Roadmap”
On Saturday, General Al-Burhane demanded the dismissal of the UN envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, blaming him for the war.
The army chief accuses Mr. Perthes of “covering up” the volatile situation in Khartoum. Without these “lies”, General “Daglo would not have launched his military operations”.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked”, expressing “full confidence” in his envoy. Washington told him of his “resolute support” and “confidence”.
Along with the Americans and the Saudis, the African Union, which suspended Sudan in retaliation for the putsch of the two now rival generals in 2021, is trying to organize discussions with Igad, the regional bloc of Africa of the East to which the country belongs, under the aegis of the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir.
On Sunday, the pan-African organization said in a statement that it had “adopted a roadmap” providing for “the cessation of hostilities” and “the resumption of the transition to a democratic government led by civilians”.