Bloody battle for police headquarters in Sudan’s capital

2023-06-26 19:59:00

Bloody battle for the police headquarters in the capital of Sudan. Photo: AFP
Clashes in Sudan escalated less than a week after the end of the latest truce, with fighting around the Khartoum police headquarters, which fell into the hands of the paramilitaries with a balance of at least 14 civilians killeda fact that puts the Army in difficulties in the capital of the country, plunged into a bloody conflict since April 15.

Besides, a rebel group opened a new front in the south of the country, on the border with Ethiopiawhen launching an attack against the army, indicated inhabitants of Kurmuk, a town in that area, reported the AFP news agency.

After two and a half months of war against the Army Led by General Abdel Fatah al Burhan, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries announced last Sunday night a “victory in the battle for police headquarters” in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

“It was not a question of a military victory, but of a flagrant attack against the State institutions that protect civilians.”

We “fully controlled” the facility and “seized a large number of vehicles, weapons and ammunition,” the group added in the statement.

This takeover “will have a major impact on the battle for Khartoum”a former army officer told the French agency, who requested anonymity.

This barracks, in the southern part of the city, “guarantees control of the southern entrance to the capital” for the RSF, according to the same source.

A rebel group opened a new front in the south of the country. Photo: AFP
Even if the paramilitaries fail to maintain control of this strategic position, the videos released by their propaganda systems show their men recovering a lot of ammunition and weapons.

The Army responded in a statement that It was not “a military victory (…) but a flagrant attack against State institutions that protect civilians.”

The balance of deaths from the bombings and a truce

At least “14 civilians, including two children, died” last Sunday around the police headquartersreported a network of militants trying to organize emergency services and evacuations to the few hospitals that still work in the sector.

Some “217 wounded arrived, 72 of them in critical condition and 147 were operatedafter being hit by “stray bullets, shelling or rocket fire” in residential neighborhoods, the committee said.

A 72-hour truce signed on Saturday the 17th of this month between the two generals who are vying for power in Sudan to facilitate the arrival of humanitarian aid came to an end last Tuesday.

The two parties “agreed to allow freedom of movement and delivery of humanitarian aid throughout Sudan”despite the fact that previous truces were systematically violated.

Citizens flee from the clashes. Photo: AFP
The ceasefire came into force a day before an international conference in Geneva sponsored by Saudi Arabia to seek more aid, international media reported.

A week ago, opening a donor conference, The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, urged providing humanitarian aid for Sudan by warning that the African country is sinking “in death and destruction” at an “unprecedented” speed,

The beginning of the armed escalation

The conflict broke out on April 15 between the Army, led by General Abdel Fatah al Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The hostilities broke out in the context of an increase in tensions around the integration of the RSF within the Armed Forces.

This was a key part of an agreement signed in December to form a new civilian government and reactivate the open transition after the 2019 overthrow of then-President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, damaged by the October 2021 coup, after which the government fell. prime minister of unity, Abdallah Hamdok.

Antonio Guterres, head of the UN. Photo: AFP
The NGO Acled reports more than 2,800 deaths in this wara balance that is considered to be well below the real figures since neither side reports their losses.

So far in the conflict, more than 2.5 million people have had to leave their homes. More than half a million crossed the borders, especially towards Egypt, in the north, and Chad, to the west, according to the UN.

Before the conflict, the African country was already one of the poorest in the world, and now, 25 of the 45 million inhabitants can no longer survive without humanitarian aid.