(Khartoum) Air raids, street fighting and explosions on Saturday shook Khartoum, the capital of Sudan where the commitments made by two rival generals to evacuate civilians from combat zones and deliver humanitarian aid are slow to materialize.
The emissaries of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, head of the army, and Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, who commands the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), signed on the night of Thursday to Friday in Saudi Arabia a “declaration for the protection of civilians”.
This document negotiated under Saudi-American mediation provides for “safe passages” to allow civilians to flee as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid.
PHOTO -, FRANCE PRESS AGENCY
A World Food Program warehouse in Khartoum
On the other hand, he does not mention a truce, but only future negotiations for a temporary ceasefire, and even later “extended discussions for a permanent cessation of hostilities” which in four weeks left more than 750 dead, 5,000 injured. and more than 900,000 displaced persons and refugees.
The talks are due to resume this weekend in Jeddah, a Saudi diplomat told AFP. He called the statement “an important step”, acknowledging nevertheless that the process was still at a “preliminary stage”.
The head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, estimated on Twitter that it was a “positive step towards the restoration of peace”.
Rationing
“Preliminary agreements are always at a minimum”, however, explained to AFP Aly Verjee, specialist in Sudan.
But none of the participants wish to “criticize (this) process”, “for fear of launching a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure”, he assures.
The FSR estimated on Friday that “in view of past experiences”, the army had “no word or interest in alleviating the suffering of the people”.
In Khartoum, residents report increasingly violent airstrikes. More and more often, they tell AFP, “the walls of houses are shaking”, while artillery fire is still incessant in certain neighborhoods.
For four weeks, millions of Sudanese, mostly in Khartoum, have been barricaded in their homes in scorching heat, with virtually no running water or electricity and with shortages of food, money, medicine and fuel.
“With the war, prices have skyrocketed” in Kassala, 400 kilometers east of the capital, laments AFP Moussa Hassan.
In this state bordering Eritrea, where tens of thousands of displaced people have arrived, “the local authorities have declared a state of emergency to control basic necessities” and to ration them, explains this resident.
The situation is particularly critical in Darfur, in the western border of Chad, ravaged in the 2000s by bloody repression.
According to the UN, 450 people were killed in the town of El-Geneina during fighting which also involved armed civilians and tribal fighters or local armed groups.
“Bullets everywhere”
And every day, thousands of people cross borders, especially to Egypt. Tens of thousands have arrived in Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
Countries where already before the war the UNHCR had not received “more than 15%” of the funds it needed to operate.
The Sudanese government on Saturday appealed to the international community, citing in particular the UN, the African Union (AU), the Arab League and regional organizations to provide assistance in the face of the “catastrophic humanitarian situation”.
It wishes to make available the port and airport of Port Sudan, on the Red Sea (east), Dongola airport (north) and the military base of Wadi Sidna near Khartoum to receive humanitarian aid.
The senior Saudi diplomat told AFP that General Burhane had been invited to the summit of heads of state of the Arab League on May 19 in Jeddah, without being able to specify who would represent Sudan at this meeting.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he “hopes that (the) declaration (signed in Jeddah) will ensure that the relief operation can deploy quickly and safely”. He “reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire and for broader discussions to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities”.
“We keep hearing that there will be a truce in the next seven days,” Wahag Gafar told AFP at the Egyptian-Sudanese border. “But when you go out into the street, there are bullets everywhere. »