Sudan’s rival factions extend ceasefire for 72 hours as thousands flee fighting

Issued on: 30/04/2023 – 21:33

The previous ceasefire – which was widely violated by both sides – was due to expire at midnight on Sunday, just two weeks after clashes broke out between supporters of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo . RSF.

According to Sudan’s Ministry of Health, more than 500 people have been killed and 5,000 injured, and thousands have been forced to leave their homes for safer places within the country. or abroad,

Warplanes circled as street fighting continued in the capital Khartoum on Sunday.

Sudanese police said officers from the Central Reserve Police were being deployed to Khartoum to protect civilian properties from looting.

Police officials said the paramilitary unit had arrested 316 “insurgents” – a reference to the RSF, which did not confirm the information.

As fighting damages residential buildings, food becomes scarce and daily life becomes increasingly difficult, foreign nations continue to evacuate their citizens as humanitarian agencies run supplies for the millions who cannot flee. .

The first Red Cross plane arrived in Port Sudan from Jordan on Sunday with eight tonnes of humanitarian aid, including surgical supplies and medical kits for some 1,500 patients.

Warning

Sudan’s former prime minister, Abdullah Hamdok, warned on Saturday against the conflict degenerating into a civil war.

Hamdok said at an event in Nairobi, “God forbid if Sudan is to reach a point of civil war… Syria, Yemen, Libya will be a short game.” “I think it would be a nightmare for the world.”

United Nations world food program said it feared the unrest could push millions more into starvation in a country where 15 million people need aid to avoid famine.

Mazoub Saad Ibrahim, a doctor in Ad Damar, north of Khartoum, said, “The situation cannot be maintained because of the shortness of medical supplies.”

“This war is ominous and we hope it stops,” he said. AFPTV.

The latest three-day ceasefire was agreed after mediation led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the United Nations.

In Riyadh on Sunday, an envoy for Burhan met Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, who called for peace to be restored in Sudan, his ministry said.