Global Courant 2023-05-26 01:57:35
Sudan’s warring factions have accused each other of being behind violations of the latest ceasefire negotiated by the US and Saudi Arabia as it enters its third day.
Clashes broke out again on Thursday between the rival factions in Khartoum and neighboring Omdurman, witnesses said, as well as in the strategic city of El Obeid in the southwest.
“Residents of the towns of Omdurman and Khartoum reported hearing gunshots at night between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army,” Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan said from Omdurman.
“In the early hours of Thursday we heard reconnaissance planes flying overhead in Omdurman and when we spoke to people in Khartoum they said they could hear the planes too,” she added.
Khartoum, Omdurman and Khartoum-North form the largest capital of Sudan. They are separated by the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile.
The week-long ceasefire was reached after five weeks of fighting in Khartoum and outbreaks of fighting in other parts of Sudan, including the long-unstable western region of Darfur.
The fighting – centered around a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – has exacerbated a humanitarian crisis, forced more than a million people to flee and threatened to destabilize a fragile region.
War broke out in Khartoum on April 15 after disagreements over plans to integrate the RSF into the military as part of an internationally backed deal to shift Sudan to democracy after decades of conflict-ridden rule by former President Omar al-Bashir, proclaiming himself leader of the country after committing a coup d’état in 1989.
Short-lived ceasefire
The ceasefire was breached just minutes after it came into effect Monday night, when residents of the capital Khartoum reported airstrikes and artillery fire that shook the city.
Since then, there have been further violations of the ceasefire, which aims to bring much-needed humanitarian aid to war-ravaged parts of the North African country.
It is the latest in a series of ceasefires that have all been systematically violated.
It is unclear whether either side has gained an edge in recent weeks of fighting.
In a statement released late Wednesday, the RSF, which is led by Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, sought to pin the blame for the ceasefire violation on the military led by Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al Burhan.
The military “launched a series of unwarranted attacks today,” the RSF said, adding that “our forces have resolutely repelled these attacks.”
“Our forces successfully shot down a SAF MiG fighter jet,” it said, but reiterated, however, that it “remained committed to the humanitarian ceasefire”.
According to Morgan, “The RSF claims it shot down an Army fighter jet, but the Army says the plane crashed due to a technical error and that it was due to an air-to-surface missile fired by the RSF. .”
The army also said on Thursday morning it had “countered an attack on armored vehicles by the Rapid Support Forces militias, which was a clear violation of the truce”.
Continued ceasefire violations
The US State Department said the ceasefire monitoring mechanism for Sudan had detected possible violations of the agreement, including perceived use of artillery, military aircraft and drones.
“We continue to see ceasefire violations,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
“We retain our sanctioning power and we will not hesitate to use that power if necessary.”
UN envoy to the Horn of Africa, Hanna Tetteh, said the ongoing fighting is “unacceptable and must stop”.
Washington also warned that Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has been supplying the RSF with surface-to-air missiles to fight the Sudanese military, saying it was “contributing to a protracted armed conflict that is only leading to further chaos in the region”.
The army is relying on air power while the RSF has spread out and taken cover in the streets of Khartoum.
The health ministry said about 730 people had been killed and 5,454 injured, although the real number could be much higher.
