Global Courant 2023-04-18 12:10:28
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Author of the article:
The associated press
Jack Jeffrey and Samy Magdy
Published April 18, 2023 • read for 4 minutes
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damaged aircraft, including one on fire, at Khartoum International Airport in Khartoum, Sudan, Monday, April 17, 2023. Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC, analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press, show the extent of destruction over days fighting in Sudan between rival forces, including some 20 aircraft damaged or destroyed at Khartoum airport. Photo by Planet Labs Pbc /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Washington’s top diplomat said Tuesday that a US embassy convoy in Sudan came under fire.
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The convoy of clearly marked embassy vehicles was attacked on Monday and preliminary reports link the attackers to the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group battling the Sudanese army, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. Everyone in the convoy is safe, Blinken said.
The Sudanese military said the attack took place in Sudan’s restive Darfur region.
The convoy attack, along with previous attacks on aid workers and the EU envoy’s residence in the capital Khartoum, marked a further deterioration of chaos since two rival generals battled for control of Africa’s third-largest country over the weekend. erupted.
According to UN figures, more than 185 people have been killed and more than 1,800 injured. The death toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, especially around the city center, where no one can reach because of the clashes.
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The two sides have used tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Fighter jets flew overhead late Monday and anti-aircraft fire lit up the sky as darkness fell. Fighting resumed early Tuesday around key bases of both sides and at strategic government buildings, all of which are located in residential areas.
The unrest comes just days before Sudanese are due to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic fasting month.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC, analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press, showed the extent of the devastation after days of fighting. At Khartoum International Airport, which also has a military side, the AP counted some 20 damaged aircraft in a photo taken Monday afternoon. Some were completely destroyed, with one still belching smoke. At El Obeid and Merowe airbases, north and south of Khartoum, several fighter jets were among the destroyed aircraft.
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Top diplomats have urged the two rival generals – army chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF leader General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo – to cease fighting, so far without success.
The Sudanese army said on Tuesday that more troops would join the battle and that it would “broaden the scope of its operations against the RSF”.
The State Department said late Monday that Blinken spoke separately by phone with the two generals.
“I made it very clear (in my conversations) that attacks, threats or dangers to our diplomats were totally unacceptable,” Blinken told reporters Tuesday at the Group of Seven Rich Nations meeting in Japan.
He called for an immediate 24-hour ceasefire as the basis for a longer ceasefire and a resumption of negotiations. “Indiscriminate military operations have resulted in significant deaths and injuries, recklessly endangering civilians, diplomats, including U.S. personnel, and humanitarian personnel,” he said.
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Burhan and Dagalo, former allies who together orchestrated an October 2021 coup, have dug in and demanded the other’s surrender. The violence has raised the specter of civil war, just as Sudanese tried to revive the push for democratic civilian rule after decades of military rule.
The Sudanese military blamed the RSF, which emerged from the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudan’s Darfur region, for the attack on the US convoy and an earlier attack on the EU envoy’s house in Khartoum. The army said the convoy was attacked in al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted Monday that the EU ambassador to Sudan was “attacked in his own residence”, without providing further details.
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The RSF denied involvement in the attack on the ambassador’s home, but blamed the military. However, a Western diplomat in Cairo said the residence had been ransacked by gunmen in RSF uniforms. No one was injured, but the gunmen stole several items, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media.
Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo had recently agreed on a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups, but the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command.
Both generals have a long history of human rights violations and their forces have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.
Just four years ago, Sudan sparked hope after a popular uprising helped oust longtime autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.
But the turmoil since then, especially the 2021 coup, has frustrated the democratic drive and devastated the economy. A third of the population – about 16 million people – now depends on humanitarian aid in the resource-rich country.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Matthew Lee in Karuizawa, Japan, contributed to this report.
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