2023-04-16 05:04:06
Violence reigns in Sudan. Fighting between the army and paramilitaries left at least 27 dead and 170 injured, particularly in the capital Khartoum, the Syndicate of Doctors reported on Sunday morning. There are at least two dead at the airport in the capital.
Windows rattled and buildings shook in many parts of Khartoum during the clashes on Saturday, and explosions were heard early on Sunday. At the end of the day on Saturday, the army asked the population to stay at home as it continued its airstrikes against paramilitary bases.
International calls for a ceasefire
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – thousands of ex-Darfur war militiamen turned army auxiliaries – said they control the presidential residence, Khartoum airport and other key infrastructure. The army denies taking the airport but assures that the FSRs “burned civilian planes there, including one from Saudi Airlines”, which the company confirmed.
All day Saturday, calls for a ceasefire multiplied: from the UN, Washington, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Riyadh, the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union and even the former civilian Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok. But in vain. The Arab League has also announced an emergency meeting this Sunday, at the request of Cairo – where it sits – and Riyadh, two great allies of the Sudanese army, struggling with the paramilitaries who now want to dislodge it from the power.
The inflexible paramilitaries
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his part called on the two belligerents: the head of the army, Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, and the boss of the FSR, Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, but also the President Egyptian Abdel Fattah al-Sissi to demand “an immediate end to the violence”.
The paramilitaries say they are inflexible. They “will not stop until they have taken control of all the military bases,” Commander Hemedti threatened on al-Jazeera channel. General Burhane has not appeared since the morning, but assures in a press release that he was “surprised at nine o’clock in the morning” by an attack on his HQ by the FSR, his former best ally whom the army now describes as “foreign-backed militia”.
A wanted notice against Hemedti
The army has posted a “wanted notice” against Hemedti on its Facebook page. “This fugitive criminal is wanted by justice,” reads the photo montage, while another press release announces the dissolution of the FSR, calling on all these men to surrender.
During the putsch in October 2021, Hemedti and Burhane joined forces to oust civilians from power. But over time, Hemedti has continued to denounce the coup. Even recently, he sided with the civilians – therefore against the army in political negotiations – blocking the discussions and therefore any solution to end the crisis.
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