Global Courant 2023-04-16 03:35:57
KHARTOUM, Sudan — A Sudanese doctor’s group said at least 26 people were killed and 103 injured in clashes Saturday between the country’s army and a powerful paramilitary force.
The deaths occurred in areas across the country, including the capital Khartoum and its sister city Omdurman, the Sudanese doctors’ syndicate said in a statement. Many of the injured were in southwestern Sudan.
The violence comes after months of escalating tensions between the armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and years of political unrest since a military coup in October 2021. It raised fears of a wider conflict among many as fighting continued into Saturday night.
After a day of heavy fighting, the army ruled out negotiations with the RSF and instead called for the dismantling of what it called an “insurgent militia.” The harsh language indicated that the conflict between the former allies, who jointly orchestrated the 2021 coup, was likely to continue.
In a statement late Saturday, the military urged Sudanese to stay in their homes as the air force pursued RSF forces.
Fighting broke out early Saturday. The sound of heavy fire could be heard throughout the day in the capital Khartoum and its sister city Omdurman, where the army and RSF have gathered tens of thousands of troops since the coup.
Witnesses said fighters from both sides fired from armored vehicles and machine guns mounted on pick-up trucks in densely populated areas. Some tanks were seen in Khartoum. The army said it launched aircraft and drone strikes against RSF positions in and around the capital.
As night fell, residents said they could still hear the sounds of gunfire and explosions in various parts of Khartoum, including around the army headquarters and other bases.
Those in Khartoum described chaotic scenes. “Fire and explosions are everywhere,” said Amal Mohamed, a doctor at a public hospital in Omdurman.
“We have never seen such battles in Khartoum before,” said resident Abdel-Hamid Mustafa.
One of the hot spots was Khartoum International Airport. There was no formal announcement that the airport was closed, but major airlines suspended their flights.
Saudi Arabia’s flag carrier said one of its planes was involved in what it called an “accident.” Video showed the plane burning on the tarmac. Another aircraft also appeared to have caught fire. Flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 identified it as a Boeing 737 for SkyUp, a Kiev, Ukraine-based airline. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate said two civilians were killed at the airport. Another man was shot dead in North Kordofan state, it said. The BBC said one of its reporters was stopped by soldiers, taken to military headquarters and beaten.
Armed Forces and RSF leaders exchanged blame over who started Saturday’s fighting and offered conflicting accounts about who had control of key installations.
General Abdel Fattah Burhanthe commander of the Sudanese army, told the Qatar-based satellite news network Al Jazeera that RSF forces first “harassed” the army south of Khartoum, sparking the clashes.
Burhan accused the RSF of breaking into Khartoum airport and setting fire to some planes. He also said that all strategic facilities, including the army headquarters and the Republican Palace, the seat of the Sudanese presidency, are under the control of his armed forces. He threatened to send more troops to Khartoum.
The head of the RSF, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, accused Burhan of starting the battle by encircling RSF troops. “This criminal forced this fight on us,” he said.
Dagalo told Al Jazeera he believes it will be over in “the next few days”.
The RSF claimed that its forces controlled strategic locations in Khartoum and the northern city of Merowe, some 340 kilometers northwest of the capital. The military dismissed the claims as “lies.”
The fighting comes after months of escalating tensions between the generals and years of political turmoil since the 2021 coup. The tensions stem from a disagreement over how the RSF, led by Dagalo, should be integrated into the armed forces and which authority should oversee it. hold on to the process. The merger is a key condition of Sudan’s unsigned transitional agreement with political groups.
Pro-democracy activists have blamed Burhan and Dagalo for abuses of protesters across the county over the past four years, including the deadly splitting up of a protest camp outside army headquarters in Khartoum in June 2019, which left more than 120 protesters dead. came. Many groups have repeatedly called for them to be held accountable. The RSF has long been accused of atrocities related to the Darfur conflict.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats expressed deep concern about the outbreak of violence. “We urge all actors to immediately stop the violence and avoid further escalations or troop mobilizations and to continue talks to resolve unresolved issues,” Blinken wrote on Twitter.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; the top diplomat of the European Union, Josep Borrell; the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat; Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit; and Qatar all called for a ceasefire and the resumption of negotiations by both sides. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates called on the fighters in Sudan to show restraint and work towards a political solution.
Former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was ousted in the 2021 coup, warned of possible regional conflict if fighting escalates. “The shooting must stop immediately,” he said in a video call to both sides on his Twitter account.
Cameron Hudson, a senior associate of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank and a former US diplomat, said the fighting could get wider and longer and called on the United States to form a coalition of regional countries to put pressure on to practice on the leaders of the Army and RSF to de-escalate.
Volker Perthes, the UN envoy to Sudan, and the Saudi ambassador to Sudan, Ali Bin Hassan Jaffar, were in contact with Dagalo and Burhan to try to end the violence, a UN official who asked for anonymity said for internal discuss deliberations.
Chad has announced that it will close its land borders with Sudan.
The clashes also took place in other parts of the country, including the northern province, the conflict-ravaged region of Darfur and the strategic Red Sea coastal city of Port Sudan, said a military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to inform the media.
