Residents of Khartoum woke up again to the sound of gunfire and explosions on Thursday, more than two months into Sudan’s war between the army and paramilitaries who accuse each other of violations against civilians.
The violence of the explosions “shake the walls of the houses”, witnesses told Agence France-Presse (AFP), referring to “artillery fire” in the east of the capital and others, this time to “heavy artillery”, coming from the army barracks in the northern suburbs.
Fighting is also taking place in the center of the capital, overflown by “combat planes”, while airstrikes have shaken several sectors in Khartoum and its suburbs, according to other witnesses.
In Omdurman, the northern suburbs of the city, a resident reported aerial bombardment and “intensive” anti-aircraft gunfire which, according to him, has lasted “for more than two hours and has not stopped”.
The fighting is also concentrated in Darfur, a vast border region of Chad already scarred by a civil war in the 2000s and the scene of the deadliest violence.
Since April 15, the conflict has pitted the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, against the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), led by General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo.
Formerly allies, the two generals are now vying for power and seem determined to obtain it by force.
Their war plunged the country – among the poorest in the world – into chaos, killed more than 2,000 people, according to the NGO ACLED and forced more than two and a half million people to leave their homes, internally displaced. Sudan or refugees in neighboring countries, according to the UN.
After a brief respite in a 72-hour truce, fighting resumed on Wednesday morning and both sides again accused each other of committing violations against civilians.
The army accuses the FSR of having “taken advantage of the truce to mobilize its forces and of committing several violations against civilians”. The paramilitaries accuse the army of having “fabricated a false video” featuring “a rape” which it attributed to the FSR.
“Catastrophe” in sight
In Darfur, the two camps clash “with all types of weapons”, residents of Nyala, capital of South Darfur, told AFP on Wednesday evening.
Thursday in Al-Facher, capital of Darfur-North, clashes broke out between the army and the RSF, according to witnesses. ” Yesterday evening [mercredi]there was a movement of military vehicles “of the FSR, which went on the attack Thursday evening “towards the city center”, a resident told AFP.
In this region in the west of the country where populations from African ethnic groups as well as Arab tribes live, “the conflict now has an ethnic dimension”, warned the UN, the African Union and IGAD, the East African bloc. The violence committed in Darfur could constitute “crimes against humanity”, judges the UN.
In El-Obeid, in the North Kordofan region, bordering Darfur, witnesses also reported “artillery fire”.
On Wednesday evening, the army accused the main rebel group in South Kordofan of having “attacked the infantry brigade of Kadugli, in violation of the ceasefire” concluded between Khartoum and this armed movement, one of the two to have refused to join the historic Juba peace agreement signed in 2020 with the other rebel groups in the country.
“Heavy fighting” between the army and the rebels was also reported by witnesses in Dilling, 130 kilometers north of Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan.
With the continuation of hostilities, around two-thirds of health facilities in combat zones are now out of service, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, citing “46 attacks on health facilities since the start of the fights”.
The humanitarian situation is expected to worsen further with the rainy season, which is synonymous with an upsurge in malaria, food insecurity and child malnutrition.
According to the WHO, 11 million people need health assistance. And the UN estimates that 25 of the 48 million Sudanese cannot survive without humanitarian aid.
On Monday, the international community pledged $1.5 billion in aid, half of the needs put forward by humanitarian agencies. A “disaster is looming”, warned the NGO Norwegian Refugee Council.