2023-04-18 19:50:38
« Dince early this morning we have been hearing heavy weapons. We are all lying on the ground,” testifies Alyaa Gameel, a psychologist with whom all her family took refuge on the ground floor of her building, in Khartoum. Since the beginning of the fighting between the head of the army, General Abdel Fattah Al Burhane, and the powerful militia of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo known as “Hemeti”, civilians have lived sealed off at home. In the street, fighting rages. In four days, they have already caused 248 deaths and 2,460 injuries, mainly in the Khartoum region.
Drinking water stocks are running out
“We will try to leavetoday”, says Alyaa Gameel. The rocket that landed in the neighbors’ wall convinced her to join her uncles and aunts in Al-Jazirah state, south of Khartoum, where the situation seems calmer. For this trip, she went in search of oil, while many stations are out of service. “The people of Khartoum are not used to war, she adds. We need time to accept this idea. Every day we must remind ourselves that this is real. »
The incessant bombardments make movement from one neighborhood to another extremely dangerous. Basic necessities are starting to run out like in this grocery store, one of the few still open in the neighborhood. Its owner, who prefers to remain anonymous, assures us that he is about to run out of water. He also comes to the end of his reserves of oil, flour, onions and pasta. His stock of yoghurts, milk and meat has already been sold.
“People are stuck in the middle of itare fights”, he laments. The numerous lootings also worry him, which is why he now sleeps in his shop, behind the tarpaulin protecting his storefront. Once the last cans are gone, he too could go into exile in the state of Al-Jazirah.
A makeshift collaborative clinic
While waiting for a hypothetical lull, solidarity is being organized. The Al-Ma’mora Resistance Committee, one of the pro-democracy branches still active in the country, has reopened its collaborative clinic, in the premises of a former health center. Thanks to donations, some sixty doctors, nurses, pharmacists and medical engineers provide first aid to the injured, escort them to the nearest hospital and organize drug distributions. ” Civilians have no interest in this war. It is a conflict between generals for authority and power,” accuses Azza Sorkatti, the stay-at-home mother who coordinates the operations of this clinic.
Health centers are not spared by the combatants. At least a dozen hospitals have been evacuated after being bombed since the conflict began on 15 April. Some clinics have had to close for lack of supplies. Others were requisitioned by the RSF. Last night, following their respective exchanges with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the two belligerents agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire from 6 p.m. This Tuesday evening, Khartoum held its breath, hoping that it would be truly respected.
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