escape from the war
- On the outskirts of the city, people carried their bags on foot to bus stops in an attempt to escape.
- A Reuters reporter returned to his family’s home on Sunday and painted a picture of what happened to Khartoum after eight days of fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. His journey normally takes just over half an hour, but this time it took three hours in the chaos of the conflict.
- The city has been the target of relentless air strikes, shelling and gun battles day and night since the end of Ramadan and during the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday, which ends on Sunday, despite repeated pledges of a ceasefire..
- The Rapid Support Forces entrenched themselves in several neighborhoods, taking control of buildings, while the army resorted to air strikes and heavy artillery in an attempt to force its opponents to retreat, according to residents and witnesses interviewed by Reuters. The army said it was seeking to clear the capital of “hotbeds of rebel groups”.“.
- The violence cut off water and electricity in many parts of the city, damaged hospitals and led to the closure of some of them. Many civilians are trapped in their homes or stranded and risk looting and looting if they venture outside..
- This is the first time that violent fighting has engulfed the capital region, which includes the city of Khartoum and the neighboring cities of Bahri and Omdurman, with a total population of more than ten million people at the confluence of the White and Blue Niles..
Omdurman.. From a city to a military barracks
- Reuters correspondent crossed the Blue Nile heading to Bahri, which witnessed violent clashes during the past two days, before heading west and crossing the river to Omdurman to reach his family’s home from Khartoum, where he was staying with his relatives..
- The reporter toured a city whose features were changed by the military struggle for power.
- He saw a heavy deployment of Rapid Support Forces fighters in the areas he passed through in the three cities, and some of them were at checkpoints asking drivers to show identity documents..
- It was also possible to see the army soldiers, who residents and witnesses said started their first violent ground battles on Friday, at the entrance to the city of Omdurman, where tanks, pickup trucks and soldiers with automatic rifles were deployed..
- Today, more than a week after the outbreak of the clashes, the reporter saw the streets almost empty. In addition, obtaining petrol has become difficult and the number of cars on the road has decreased. Supplies of flour and other basic items are dwindling, and vegetables are scarce and expensive.
- In the main market in Bahri, many buildings were badly damaged and set on fire by the fighting and airstrikes.
- In some areas far from the center of Khartoum, buses were seen preparing to transport people north towards Egypt as part of a mass exodus that escalated during the past week..
- Some with small bags tried to get into other people’s cars or take minibuses out of town.
And near the Halfaya Bridge, which connects Bahri with Omdurman, a long diplomatic convoy with armed guards and flying the British flag was seen heading west in one of the evacuation operations of the embassy staff and foreign citizens that began on Saturday and increased its pace today with the fighting subsiding slightly..
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