It seems that the Sudanese crisis may not have a solution on the near horizon, after the Sudanese army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support forces, led by Mohammed Hamdan, agreed on a humanitarian truce, however, clashes quickly broke out between the two parties, the latest of which was the Rapid Support forces ' seizure of the National Museum in Khartoum .

Edited  by |ANNA sam

Middle East  section -  CJ journalist

Sudan conflict news section  

Khartoum - June,3,2023

The deputy director of the Sudanese National Museum said that the Rapid Support forces took control of the National Museum in Khartoum, and asked the paramilitary forces to preserve the precious artifacts inside the museum, which include mummies.

She added that museum staff were unaware of the situation inside the museum because they stopped working there after the conflict suddenly broke out on April 15, forcing the police guarding the facility to withdraw.

The Rapid Support forces published a video from inside the museum in which one of the soldiers appeared denying any damage to the museum or the possibility of this happening, and inviting any individual or organization to visit the museum to verify the sincerity of his speech.

The video showed some fighters of the Rapid Support forces covering exposed mummies with sheets and closing the white boxes in which the mummies were inside. It is not yet clear when and why the mummies were discovered.

The museum building is located on the Bank of the Nile in central Khartoum, near the central bank building in an area that has witnessed some of the fiercest battles of the conflict.

Among the thousands of priceless artifacts are mummified mummies dating back to 2500 BC, which makes them among the oldest and most significant artifacts in the world.

Hatem al-Nour, the former director of the National Museum, said that the building also contains statues, pottery vessels, ancient murals, as well as artifacts dating back to different periods from the Stone Age to the Christian and Islamic eras.

Roxane Trieu, a member of a French archaeological team working in Sudan, said the team was monitoring the museum's situation via satellite and had already spotted signs of possible damage that occurred before Friday, with signs of a fire. "We don't know the extent of the damage inside,"she added.

The fighting has continued despite several ceasefire announcements, including a Saudi-US-brokered truce agreed by the army and Rapid Support forces that expires on Saturday evening.

Residents reported clashes on Saturday afternoon, including aerial and artillery shelling in the south of Khartoum and the northern areas of the neighboring cities of Omdurman and Bahri, as well as the East Nile region on the eastern side of the country.

After continued clashes, shelling and occupation of civilian buildings, Washington and Riyadh suspended talks and the United States announced sanctions on the commercial interests of both sides in the conflict.

The UN Security Council on Friday called on both sides to cease hostilities to allow humanitarian access.

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