2023-04-16 15:22:45
Los fighting between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (FAR)a paramilitary group from the African country, continued this Sunday, with a balance of at least 60 civilians killedincluding three employees of the United Nations (UN).
In the last few hours, according to international media, there were heavy clashes with planes, armored vehicles and trucks with machine guns mounted in the capital of Khartoum, the adjoining city of Omdurman.
Rival forces of the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (FAR) paramilitary group are believed to have tens of thousands of fighters each in the northeast African country’s capital alone.
Due to the clashes, there are already at least 60 civilians dead and 600 wounded, said a union of doctors in the country. There are also dozens of deaths among the combatants.
This Sunday, the UN mission in Sudan reported that “Three World Food Program (WFP) employees were killed in clashes that broke out in KabkabiyaNorth Darfur, on April 15 while on duty.
The representative of the mission in Sudan, Volker Perthes, “strongly condemned the attacks against United Nations personnel”, conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims and manifested his “extreme concern” over “reports of shells hitting UN facilities” during the fighting.
The fighting began this Saturday morning, when the leader of the FAR announced the seizure of the international airport and the presidential palace in Khartoum and He called on the population and the soldiers to rise up against the army.
The Army, for its part, denied that the FAR had seized the international airport and assured that some paramilitaries “infiltrated and set fire to civilian planes, including one of the Saudi airline Saudi Airlines,” an incident confirmed by Saudi Arabia.
Tensions in Sudan
The clashes that are shaking Sudan are the culmination of months of tensions between the Army and the FAR, its former ally.
Those tensions had already delayed a deal with political parties to return the country to its brief transition to democracy, which was derailed by a military coup in October 2021.
During the 2021 coup, the head of the FAR, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, and the leader of the Army, Abdel Fatah al-Burhan, had joined forces to oust civilians from power.. But over time the disagreements between the two men grew.
The disagreements between both sides are mainly focused on the future of the paramilitaries and their integration into the Armed Forces. Although the Army does not reject their integration, it wants to impose their conditions and limit their incorporation in the time. General Dagalo, on the other hand, demands a broad inclusion and, above all, a position for him in the General Staff.
The fighting continues
In the last hours, in Khartoum and Omdurman They registered fighting at the military headquarters, the international airport and the headquarters of state television.
A military official said FAR fighters clashed with troops at the military barracks early Sunday and a fire broke out at a facility for ground troops.
In the capital, smoke was seen above the paramilitary headquarters and the international airport, the news agency reported. AFP.
Both the Army and the FAR claim to have control of strategic locations in Khartoum and other parts of that central-eastern area of the country..
Fighting continues on Sunday in various parts of Sudan, including the western region of Darfur, where tens of thousands of people are living in camps for displaced people after years of civil war with accusations of genocide.
Fighting also spread to the eastern region, including the provinces of Kassala and al-Qadarif on the borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Talks
Both sides said on Saturday night that they were not willing to negotiate. The Army, headed by the general and coup leader Abdel Fatah al-Burhancalled for the dismantling of the FAR, which he described as a “rebel militia”.
For his part, the head of the FARGeneral Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo told the Saudi news network Al Arabiya that the possibility of negotiating is ruled out and he asked Burhan to surrender.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic pressure to stop the conflict continues to rise: Several diplomats, including the US Secretary of State, the UN Secretary-General, the EU’s foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission urged the parties to stop fighting.
The members of the UN Security Council called for an immediate end to hostilities and a return to dialogue.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he consulted with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and they “agreed that it was essential that the parties immediately end hostilities without preconditions.”
Meanwhile, the Arab League, at the request of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Sudan.
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