Sudan In Crisis: Fighting Intensifies as De@th Toll Skyrockets

Fighting continued to rage for the second consecutive day in Khartoum as violent clashes between the camps of two generals at the helm of Sudan since their putsch in 2021 left 56 civilians dead and 600 injured.

The divisions between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, head of the army, and General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), degenerated into violence on Saturday morning in the streets of the country.

The violence continued on Sunday morning as heavy gun battles opposed military and paramilitary in the northern suburbs of the capital, as well as in the south of Khartoum, witnesses reported.

The military had warned in the evening on Facebook, “the air force will conduct operations to finish with the rebel militias of the Rapid Support, civilians must stay home.”

In the morning, columns of smoke have been rising since Saturday from the city center where the main institutions of power are located.

According to pro-democracy doctors, 56 civilians were killed, more than half of them in Khartoum and its suburbs, while “dozens” of military and paramilitary personnel died, although no precise figures are available. In addition, about 600 people were killed.

The conflict had been brewing for weeks, preventing any political solution in a country that has been trying since 2019 to organize its first free elections after 30 years of Islamo-military dictatorship.

The international community, which watched helplessly as the coup d’état took place in October 2021 and has not managed to convince the generals to sign a plan to end the crisis, is multiplying its calls for a ceasefire.

The Arab League is meeting urgently at 09:00 GMT in Cairo, at the call of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two influential players in Sudan.

Witnesses also reported artillery fire in Kassala, in the country’s coastal east. It is impossible to know which force is holding what. The RSF announced that it had taken the airport in a few hours on Saturday, but the army denied this.

The RSF also claimed to be holding the presidential palace. The army denied this and said it was holding the headquarters of its general staff, one of the main power complexes in Khartoum.

Sudan, with a population of 45 million, is among the poorest countries in the world and has been torn by war for decades. The ongoing fighting has further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the country, with thousands of people displaced and in urgent need of assistance.

The situation remains volatile, and the international community is urging both sides to immediately cease hostilities and engage in dialogue to resolve the crisis.