The warnings came on the eve of a visit to Sudan by UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths. He wants to try to reach agreements with the two warring parties on Tuesday so that relief supplies can enter the country and be distributed among the victims of the fighting.
According to Griffiths, Sudan is now at a ‘breaking point’. The scale and speed of what is unfolding in Sudan is unprecedented. Relief efforts, especially in the capital Khartoum, have been seriously affected by the fighting between the army and fighters of the paramilitary RSF. The UN and aid organizations have limited or even stopped their activities because of the unsafe situation. Several aid workers were killed when the fighting broke out.
For more than two weeks, Sudan has been the scene of heavy fighting, in which more than 500 people have been killed. The army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is trying to break the power of the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’ Dagalo. The two generals worked together until last month, but came into conflict because the RSF has to be absorbed into the army. The army is now trying to defeat the RSF with attacks from the air force, among others.
Flight to neighboring countries
“This conflict is turning Sudan’s humanitarian crisis into a complete catastrophe,” said Abdou Dieng, the country’s UN coordinator for humanitarian affairs. He pointed out that the situation threatens to get worse as residents flee to regions where it is still quiet or to neighboring countries. According to the UN, some 73,000 residents have so far emigrated abroad, but this could quickly add up.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said it should be taken into account that more than 800,000 civilians are fleeing to the seven neighboring countries. “We hope it doesn’t come to that,” the UNHCR chief tweeted. The vast majority, about 600 thousand, are Sudanese.
The others are foreign refugees living in Sudan. Among the countries affected by the massive refugee influx is South Sudan, which was the scene of bloody fighting for years until independence in 2011.
Negotiations
Although both sides agreed on Sunday to extend the ceasefire by three days, Khartoum and the surrounding area were again the scene of violence on Monday. As in recent days, the capital sounded like airstrikes and gunfire. Eyewitnesses reported looting and corpses in the streets. The actual death toll is expected to be significantly higher than the official figures.
Both sides claimed to have made territorial gains in Khartoum on Monday, but this could not be confirmed by independent sources. Artillery fire was heard in the vicinity of the presidential palace and fighting continued for hours, despite the truce. Heavy fighting has been fought in this area since the beginning of the battle.
Eyewitnesses also reported bombings in Omdurman, which is near Khartoum, especially by the air force. According to UN sources, the army and the RSF have agreed to talks abroad, possibly in Saudi Arabia or South Sudan.
2023-05-01 18:45:27
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