SUDAN: Fighting raged in Sudan hours after an internationally mediated truce was supposed to have taken effect as forces loyal to duelling generals fought for control of strategic areas in Khartoum and other areas with both groups accusing each other of breaking the ceasefire.
Minutes after the agreed-upon 6 o’clock (16:00 GMT) start time of the ceasefire, loud gunshots reverberated in the backdrop of live broadcasts by numerous television news networks in Khartoum on Tuesday.
The regular army and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) released statements accusing each other of violating the ceasefire agreement. According to the military’s top leadership, actions to secure the capital and other areas would continue.
Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the United Nations, told a news briefing in New York, “There are no signs that the combat has stopped.”
Four years after the overthrow of former leader Omar al-Bashir due to widespread protests and two years after a military coup, a plan for a transition to a civilian democracy was supposed to be implemented when the conflict between the military leader of Sudan and his deputy on the ruling council broke out.
The UN has labelled the war as the cause of a humanitarian catastrophe, including the almost complete collapse of the health system. Following the deaths of three staffers, the organization’s World Food Program halted operations.
According to the UN, at least 185 people have been killed in the conflict. Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, on Tuesday speaking in Japan, said that he had telephoned the two rival leaders, RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. He had requested a ceasefire to relieve the Sudanese and allow them safely reunited with their families.
Warring groups say they abide by truce
While talking to Al Jazeera, both sides claimed they supported the agreed-upon truce.
Colonel Khaled Al-Akida, an army spokesman, said, “We are eager to carry out the ceasefire and restore normal life, but the RSF is a militia that does not respect anything.”
The RSF declared it would preserve some of the truce pacts in the interim. Musa Khaddam, the RSF commander’s advisor, told Al Jazeera that “our forces deployed in different parts of Khartoum are committed to the ceasefire.”
Al-Burhan heads the ruling council installed following al-Bashir’s departure in 2019 and the military takeover in 2021, while Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, is his deputy.
After decades of military dominance and authoritarianism in Sudan, strategically located between Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and Africa’s volatile Sahel area, their power struggle has hampered plans for a transition to civilian administration. If the violence continues, it may attract regional actors who have supported various factions from Sudan.
A previous, shorter ceasefire agreed upon for Sunday was also widely ignored. Artillery volleys, attacks by street fighting and combat aircraft have made it almost impossible to travel in Khartoum, trapping residents and foreigners in their homes.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said providing humanitarian services around the capital was nearly impossible. It warned that the health system in Sudan was at risk of breakdown.
