Dozens of people including three United Nations staffers were killed in fierce fighting between Sudan’s military and a powerful paramilitary force, casting the country’s transition to democracy into doubt.
Long-standing tensions between the military and its partner-turned-rival, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group, erupted into violence on Saturday, with the factions battling for control over key sites in multiple cities.
A doctors’ syndicate said that the death toll rose to 61, with at least 670 people wounded.
Volker Perthes, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan, decried attacks on UN staff and humanitarian assets as he confirmed three employees from the World Food Programme (WFP) were killed in clashes that erupted in Kabkabiya, North Darfur.
He said: “My deepest condolences are with their families. I also am extremely appalled by reports of projectiles hitting UN and other humanitarian premises, as well as reports of looting of UN and other humanitarian premises in several locations in Darfur. These recurring acts of violence disrupt the delivery of life-saving assistance and must end.
“The safety and security of staff and contractors is paramount, and when incidents like this occur it is women, men, and children in desperate need of assistance who suffer the most.
“I urge all parties to respect their international obligations, including to ensure the safety and security of UN and all humanitarian personnel and respect the integrity of premises and assets.”
The army appeared to have gained the upper hand on Sunday after blasting opposition bases, including in Omdurman across the Nile river from the capital Khartoum.
As night fell on Sunday, residents reported heavy explosions and gunfire, as well as airtsrikes pounding RSF targets.
Witnesses told Reuters that military forces had also regained back control over much of Khartoum’s presidential palace from the RSF and other key installations in the capital, where heavy artillery and gun battles raged into Sunday.
RSF members remained inside Khartoum international airport besieged by the army but it was holding back from striking them to avoid wreaking major damage, witnesses said.
“The hour of victory is near,” the army said in a statement on Sunday. “We pray for mercy for the innocent lives taken by this reckless adventure taken by the rebel Rapid Support militia…We will have good news for our patient and proud people soon, God willing.”
But a major problem, witnesses and residents said, was posed by thousands of heavily armed RSF members deployed inside neighbourhoods of the capital Khartoum and other cities, with no authority able to control them.
“We’re scared, we haven’t slept for 24 hours because of the noise and the house shaking. We’re worried about running out of water and food, and medicine for my diabetic father,” Huda, a young resident in southern Khartoum said.
“There’s so much false information and everyone is lying. We don’t know when this will end, how it will end,” she added.
Tagreed Abdin, an architect in Khartoum, said the power was out and people were trying to conserve phone batteries. “We can hear air strikes, shelling, and gunfire,” she said.
Doctors unions said it was difficult for medics and the sick to get to and from hospitals and called on the army and RSF to provide safe passage. The army eventually approved a UN proposal to open safe passage for urgent humanitarian cases for three hours every day starting from 4pm local time.
Sudan’s MTN telecommunications company blocked internet services on the orders of the government telecommunications regulator, two company officials said.
The Sudanese air force told people to stay indoors while it conducted what it called an aerial survey of RSF activity, and a holiday was declared in Khartoum state for Sunday, closing schools, banks and government offices.
Yesterday the military issued a statement ruling out negotiations with the RSF, instead calling for the dismantling of what it called a “rebellious militia”.
In response, the head of the paramilitary group, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, branded the armed forces chief a “criminal” – suggesting that fighting is unlikely to end soon.
The clashes follow rising tensions over the integration of the RSF, which has about 100,000 members, into the military.
The disagreement delayed the signing of an internationally backed agreement with political parties on a transition to democracy.
A coalition of civilian groups that signed a draft of that agreement in December called for an immediate halt to hostilities in order to stop Sudan from sliding towards “the precipice of total collapse”.
“This is a pivotal moment in the history of our country,” they said in a statement. “This is a war that no one will win, and that will destroy our country forever.”
The RSF has accused the army of carrying out a plot by loyalists of former strongman President Omar Hassan al-Bashir – who was ousted in a coup in 2019 – and attempting a coup itself.
In 2019, the RSF and the army worked together to overthrow al-Bashir, who ruled for 30 years.
After al-Bashir’s toppling, the country was led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, with military and civilian groups agreeing to a power-sharing deal.
Hemedti also signed a power-sharing agreement that made him deputy of a ruling council headed by army general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Just one month before the country was due to transition to a civilian head of state, the military launched a coup in October 2021, which the RSF backed.
Mr Hamdock signed a controversial deal with the coup leaders a month later which reinstated him as leader, triggering widespread pro-democracy protests in which the military fired live ammunition and tear gas at demonstrators.
The protests eventually led to the resignation of Mr Hamdok in January 2022, leaving the military in full control.
Top diplomats, including the US secretary of state, the UN secretary-general, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission urged the sides to stop fighting.
Arab states with stakes in Sudan – Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – also called for a ceasefire and for both parties to return to negotiations.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said he consulted with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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