KHARTOUM, SUDAN: Fighting in Sudan raged for a second day Sunday in battles between rival generals in control since their 2021 coup, leaving at least 56 civilians dead, hundreds wounded and sparking international alarm.
Deafening explosions and intense gunfire rattled buildings in the capital Khartoum’s densely-populated northern and southern suburbs as tanks rumbled on the streets and fighter jets roared overhead, witnesses said.
Violence erupted early Saturday morning after weeks of deepening tensions between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the large and heavily-armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with each accusing the other of starting the fight.
Both sides claim they control key sites, with state television broadcasting patriotic songs without commentary.
Daglo’s RSF say they have seized the presidential palace, Khartoum airport and other strategic sites, but the army insist they are in charge, with the air force late Saturday urging people to stay indoors as it continued air strikes targeting RSF bases.
Footage obtained by AFP showed heavy smoke billowing from a building near the army headquarters in Khartoum, with the military saying a building had “caught fire” amid the clashes but that it had been contained.
Created in 2013, the RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed against non-Arab ethnic minorities in the western Darfur region a decade earlier, drawing accusations of war crimes.
The RSF’s planned integration into the regular army was a key element of talks to finalise a deal that would return the country to civilian rule and end the political-economic crisis sparked by the military’s 2021 coup.
“The total number of deaths among civilians reached 56,” said the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, adding there were also “tens of deaths” among security forces, as well as around 600 wounded.
Medics on social media have continued to call for help, pleading for safe corridors for ambulances and a ceasefire to treat the victims, warning the streets were too dangerous to bring many casualties to hospitals.
On Sunday, the stench of gunpowder wafted through Khartoum’s streets, deserted except by soldiers as frightened civilians sheltered inside their homes.
“We had a very difficult night, and we couldn’t sleep well because of the sound of the explosions and gunfire,” said Ahmed Seif, who lives in east Khartoum with his family of five.
He said he fears his building was hit by gunfire, but said it was still too dangerous to go outside to check.
“The situation is very worrying and it doesn’t seem like it will calm anytime soon,” he added. Bakry, 24, who works in marketing, said Khartoum residents had “never seen anything like” this unrest, with the power out across swathes of the city.
“People were terrified and running back home,” said Bakry, who gave only a first name. Fighting has also erupted outside Khartoum, including in the troubled western Darfur region.
In the eastern border state of Kassala, army fired artillery at a paramilitary camp, witness Hussein Saleh said.
– International worry –
UN chief Antonio Guterres called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities”, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the fighting “threatens the security and safety of Sudanese civilians”.
Similar appeals came from the African Union, Britain, the European Union, Russia, Iran and China.
The Arab League, following a request by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, is to meet Sunday to discuss the situation.
But the two generals appear in no mood for talks. In an interview with UAE-based Sky News Arabia, Daglo, also known as Hemeti, said, “Burhan the criminal must surrender.”
The army declared Daglo a “wanted criminal” and the RSF a “rebel militia”, saying there “will be no negotiations or talks until the dissolution” of the group.
The latest violence, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, came after more than 120 civilians had already been killed in a crackdown on regular pro-democracy demonstrations over the past 18 months.
The October 2021 coup triggered international aid cuts and sparked near-weekly protests, adding to the deepening troubles of one of the world’s poorest countries.
Burhan, a career soldier from northern Sudan who rose through the ranks under the three-decade rule of now jailed Islamist general Bashir, has said the coup was “necessary” to include more factions into politics.
Daglo later called the coup a “mistake” that failed to bring about change and reinvigorated remnants of Bashir’s regime ousted by the army in 2019 following mass protests.
