Air strikes hit Sudan as truce talks fail

The battles have since killed hundreds, wounded thousands and left millions barricaded

In this image grab taken from handout video footage released by the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 23 April 2023, fighters ride in the back of a technical vehicle (pickup truck mounted with a turret) in the East Nile district of greater Khartoum. A US-brokered ceasefire between Sudan’s warring generals entered its second day on 26 April 2023, but remained fragile after witnesses reported fresh air strikes and paramilitaries claimed to have seized a major oil refinery and power plant. Image: Rapid Support Forces (RSF) / AFP

Air strikes again shook Sudan’s capital while the latest truce talks in Jeddah have yielded no progress, with a Saudi diplomat saying both sides consider themselves “capable of winning the battle”.

Sudan was thrown into deadly chaos when fighting broke out on April 15 between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Millions affected

The battles have since killed hundreds, wounded thousands and left millions barricaded inside their homes amid dire shortages of water, food and basic supplies.

The feuding generals have sent representatives to Saudi Arabia for talks on establishing a humanitarian truce in an effort also backed by the United States, but to no avail so far.

By yesterday, the talks had yielded “no major progress”, a Saudi diplomat told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

UN says ‘gravely concerned’ by fresh fighting in Sudan’s Darfur

“A permanent ceasefire isn’t on the table… Every side believes it is capable of winning the battle.” In Khartoum, a city of five million, terrified residents reported more combat – now in its fourth week – as they hid out in their homes amid power outages and sweltering heat.

A southern Khartoum resident said the family could hear “the sound of air strikes which appeared to come from near a market in central Khartoum”.

The fighting has sparked a mass exodus of foreigners and of Sudanese in both air and sea evacuations and arduous overland journeys to Egypt, Chad, South Sudan and other neighbouring countries.

Danger

“It’s very dangerous everywhere,” said Rawaa Hamad, who yesterday escaped from Port Sudan on an evacuation flight to Qatar carrying 71 people.

In Sudan, she said, there was “no safety now, unfortunately”, with its people enduring “a lack of everything – a lack of water, lack of fuel, lack of medicine, lack of even hospitals and doctors”.

The battles have killed more than 750 people and injured over 5 000, according to a count by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

The United Nations has warned of a widening humanitarian crisis after 335 000 people were displaced and created 117 000 refugees.

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