Sudan War: Fighting resumes as crisis enters third week
Warplanes on bombing raids drew heavy anti-aircraft fire over Khartoum on Saturday as fierce fighting between Sudan’s army and paramilitaries entered a third week, violating a renewed truce.
More than 500 people have been killed since battles erupted on April 15 between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his number two Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
They have agreed to multiple truces but none has effectively taken hold as the number of dead civilians continues to rise and chaos and lawlessness grip Khartoum, a city of five million people where many have been cloistered in their homes lacking food, water, and electricity.
Tens of thousands of people have been internally uprooted within Sudan or embarked on arduous trips to neighbouring Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, and Ethiopia to flee the battles.
“There is no right to go on fighting for power when the country is falling apart,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Al Arabiya television.
The latest three-day ceasefire is due to expire at midnight Sunday (2200 GMT). It was agreed Thursday after mediation led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the United Nations.
Dozens more have died over the past week since the United States announced that the warring sides had agreed to an initial truce, on April 24.
“We woke up once again to the sound of fighter jets and anti-aircraft weapons blasting all over our neighbourhood,” a witness in southern Khartoum told AFP.
Another witness said fighting had continued since the early morning, especially around the state broadcaster’s headquarters in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman.
Around the airport area, smoke drifted over Khartoum on Saturday afternoon.
