The Sudanese crisis resulting from the battles between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces has led to a humanitarian disaster, damaged areas of Khartoum, risked attracting regional powers, and reignited the conflict in the Darfur region, resulting in hundreds of people killed and thousands injured over 16 days of fighting.

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 Edited by| Tony Wild

Humanity   section -  CJ journalist

Sudan conflict news section

 

Khartoum -  May,11,2023

 

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    Many fear for their lives in the power struggle between the army chief and RSF head, who shared control of the government after a 2021 coup but fell out over a planned transition to civilian rule.

Both sides agreed on Sunday to extend a much-violated truce by 72 hours, and the U.N. told Reuters the rival forces may hold cease-fire talks in Saudi Arabia. But air strikes and artillery rang out on Monday as smoke hung over Khartoum and neighboring cities.

U.N. official Raouf Mazou said the body’s refugee agency was planning for an exodus of 815,000 people including 580,000 Sudanese as well as foreign refugees now living in the country. The country’s population numbers 46 million.

Some 73,000 have already left Sudan, he said.

Egypt reported 40,000 Sudanese had crossed its border, and those who made the journey said conditions were arduous. Others have gone to Chad, South Sudan, and Ethiopia, or sailed across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia on evacuation boats.

At least 528 people have been killed and 4,599 wounded, the health ministry said. The United Nations has reported a similar number of dead but believes the real toll is much higher.

Foreign governments pulled out their citizens over the past week in air, sea, and land operations, though several countries ended efforts. The U.S. government said on Monday that its convoys from Khartoum to the Red Sea harbor of Port Sudan evacuated more than 700 people over the weekend.

Britain said it was exploring ways to provide humanitarian assistance to Sudan along with its international allies, the United Nations, and aid organizations after evacuating nearly 2,200 people.

Meanwhile, those Sudanese who stayed behind faced hardship and danger.

Power and water supplies are uncertain, there is little food or fuel, most hospitals and clinics are out of service and soaring transport costs are making it even harder to leave.

The U.N. and other aid organizations have cut services, though the World Food Program said it was resuming operations in more secure areas on Monday after staff were killed early in the war.

“The scale and speed of what is unfolding in Sudan is unprecedented,” said Martin Griffiths, a senior U.N. official for humanitarian and emergency relief who will visit Sudan on Tuesday.

Both sides said on Monday they were making progress without commenting directly on the cease-fire violations.

The army said it had cut RSF’s combat effectiveness by half and stopped it from trying to reinforce its positions in the capital. The RSF said it still controls the main locations of Khartoum and was itself beating back army reinforcements.

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