2023-04-18 07:00:21
Khartoum is besieged by its own armed forces. Since Saturday, April 15, clashes for control of the capital have not ceased to shake the walls and windows. The regular army led by General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Al-Bourhane and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR) of General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo known as “Hemetti” continue to tear each other apart for power, in the midst of civilians.
Monday, April 17, the situation remained as uncertain as ever, without it being possible to determine the true balance of power in the streets. General Al-Bourhane ordered the dissolution of the FSR, now considered an armed rebellion. For his part, General Hemetti, speaking in English on Twitter, called on the international community to support him against his rival, whom he describes as a “radical Islamist who bombs civilians from the air”.
The two generals continue to ignore the multiple calls for a ceasefire coming from the United Nations, the African Union, Washington, London, but also from Cairo, which, by supporting Al-Bourhane, plays a crucial role in this conflict. As rival forces have rushed additional reinforcements to Khartoum, the conflict has stalled. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in the capital is deteriorating day by day.
“We ration ourselves”
Five million people are hostages to the fighting. The bridges over the Nile are closed. Hastily abandoning their homes, many downtown residents packed their bags and tried to reach relatives in quieter neighborhoods. A slow exodus, drop by drop, which requires detours, zigzagging between groups of militiamen scattered in all neighborhoods. Some of these “urban displaced people” carry a bundle on their heads, walking in the open on the side of sandy roads, defying exchanges of fire and exposing themselves to stray bullets. Others are still stuck in the heart of a war zone, like the sixty students from the University of Khartoum and their professors, who have taken refuge in the library.
The luckiest were able to get out of the capital by taking the road to Wad Madani, located three hours by car, to the southeast, along the Nile, where few fights were reported. For those who remain, everyone has set up a survival routine. “We ration ourselves. We were able to fill water cans in the street during a lull, we pay attention to the quantities of food we consume”says a psychologist, confined to Bahri, a district east of the Blue Nile, with his wife and children.
You have 61.16% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
#terror #anger #inhabitants #Khartoum #capital #plagued #urban #guerrillas