Asmaa Al-Husseini (Cairo)
The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces exchanged responsibility for the destruction of the “Jabal Awliya Dam” bridge, located on the White Nile, 44 kilometers south of the capital, Khartoum, amid experts warning that the battles taking place near the dam may lead to catastrophic results that may lead to drowning. The capital, due to the large storage capacity of the dam lake, amounting to 3 billion cubic metres, according to Sudanese reports. The extent of the damage resulting from the destruction of the dam bridge is not yet clear, but any major destruction of the bridge and any repercussions affecting the dam heralds massive floods. Violent battles are taking place between the armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces over the dam, which is connected by a bridge that is considered the main crossing between the states of Khartoum and the White Nile, whose population is estimated at about 13 million people.
The strategic importance of the “Jabal Awliya” region lies in the fact that it includes the “Al-Nujoumi” base, which is considered one of the four most important air bases in the country, and controlling the region means greatly controlling an important part of the southern entrances to the capital.
Some analyzes linked the intensification of battles around the region to the destruction that befell last week’s “Shambat Bridge” linking the cities of Khartoum Bahri and Omdurman.
Despite the mutual accusations between the two parties about responsibility for its destruction, the bridge was considered the main outlet for military supplies for the forces fighting in a number of areas of Omdurman, most notably the Strategic Corps of Engineers.
This comes the day after the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, appointed former Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra as his personal envoy to Sudan yesterday, and called on the United Nations to conduct an investigation into reports of a second wave of ethnically motivated killings in West Darfur state, which left hundreds Victims. The United Nations Human Rights Office said that “preliminary information obtained from survivors and witnesses indicates that civilians from the Masalit tribe suffered 6 days of terror earlier this month.” The war led to the displacement of more than 4.8 million people inside Sudan, and forced 1.2 million others to flee to neighboring countries, according to United Nations figures.
In another context, two meetings held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo yesterday, stressed the necessity of ending the crisis in Sudan and addressing the resulting humanitarian crisis.
The Forces of Freedom and Change announced during a press conference at the conclusion of their meetings that “the indicators and developments over the past seven months clearly show the possibility of the war extending, which will have more disastrous security and humanitarian repercussions, which requires now, and before the current crisis worsens and increases, the opening of safe corridors that guarantee the delivery of aid.” For those in need, maintaining electricity, water and communications lines, and opening roads of movement for people and goods in a free, safe and unhindered manner, as part of the measures that the two parties committed to in the November 7 agreement.
The “Freedom and Change” forces also confirmed that “Sudan’s unity is a red line.”
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