Sudanese woke up Saturday morning to the sound of gunfire and bombs hitting, and a view of clouds of smoke. Units within Sudan’s armed forces are fighting each other: regular troops are opposed by the so-called Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a militia unit that is also officially part of the national army. The sides carried out heavy shelling on each other’s positions on Saturday and fought for control of the airport, presidential palace, TV station and military bases.
Dozens of civilians have been killed in the violence that has broken out between army units in Sudan. Residents cannot go to hospitals due to the fighting and, according to eyewitnesses, there are probably many more deaths than the sixty reported victims so far.
All this violence, as well as the bombing by warplanes, took place in areas of the city where many civilians live. This happened not only in the capital Khartoum, but also in the western cities of El Geneina, Al Fashar and Nyala, and in El Obeid and Damazin in the south and Port Sudan and Merowe in the north. The RSF is led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, and the regular forces are led by Abdul Fattah Burhan.
Burhan and Hemedti have ruled Sudan together since their military coup in 2021. They have been mortal enemies since this weekend
“Gunfire and exploding bombs in our residential areas are causing panic,” civil activist Ali Adelmonim told the phone. “People are flattened in their houses, chickens are kept inside because the sound of bombs is so close to our neighborhood. People living close to military targets tried in vain to flee their neighborhood. In Dafur, three United Nations employees were caught between the warring factions and, according to unconfirmed reports, were executed by RSF fighters.
Burhan is believed to have launched the attack when an RSF base in the capital came under fire before dawn on Saturday. Until the smoke clears, it will remain unclear who is winning, although there are indications that Burhan’s soldiers are gaining the upper hand. Burhan has more men than Hemedti’s hundred thousand and has an air force and modern equipment.
The violence follows a conflict over the integration of militia members into the army. That topic was discussed in recent days as part of consultations between civilian groups and the army leaders.
Unstable region
Burhan and Hemedti have co-ruled Sudan since their military coup in 2021, but said they are willing to hand over power to a democratic civilian government. As part of those talks, Burhan proposed that the integration of the RSF into the National Armed Forces Army would take two years, Hemedti wanted a ten-year term. Since this weekend, they have been mortal enemies: Hamidti called Burhan a criminal on Saturday, and Burhan branded Hamidti a rebel leader whose army will soon be eliminated. On Sunday, under UN supervision, the two decided on a three-hour ceasefire for humanitarian reasons. However, according to eyewitnesses, gunfire and bomb hits were still heard during that ceasefire.
The conflict has attracted a great deal of attention internationally. António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, called on Burhan and Hemedti on Saturday evening to end the violence and to enter into dialogue. The United States is in contact with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and wants to mediate with those countries in the conflict: although Sudan is an African country, politicians always turn to the Arab world. Hemedti has as allies the UAE (he sells gold from one of his mines in the Gulf States) and Burhan Egypt. Several hundred Egyptian soldiers are located in a military base near Merowe that the RSF is said to have taken. Images appeared on social media in which they sat on the ground, disarmed and as prisoners of war, looking gloomy. The struggle in Sudan can therefore also take on a regional dimension in the already unstable Horn of Africa.
Read also: Civil war looms in Sudan: what you need to know to understand this conflict
Civil war threatens in Sudan page 6
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of April 17, 2023.
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