DUBAI, CAIRO: Sudan’s warring military factions agreed to another ceasefire in the region that has failed to stop violence as residents say civilians were killed in airstrikes in several parts of the capital on Saturday. .
Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is entering its third month, with neither side gaining a clear advantage.
The UN has said the war has displaced 2.2 million Sudanese people and sent the war-torn Darfur region into a “humanitarian disaster”. More than 3,000 people have been killed and more than 6,000 injured, Sudan’s health minister said.
Over the weekend, the United States and Saudi Arabia said the two factions had agreed to a new 72-hour ceasefire that would begin Sunday morning. Previous ceasefires have not been able to completely stop the fighting.
The army has the advantage of air power in Khartoum and its neighboring cities of Omdurman and Bahri, while the RSF has embedded itself in residential neighborhoods. On Friday and Saturday, the military stepped up airstrikes targeting several residential areas.
In a speech posted by the army on Friday, top general Yasser al-Atta warned people to stay away from homes held by the RSF. “Because at this point, we’ll attack them anywhere,” he cheered. “There are bullets between us and these rebels,” he said, rejecting attempts at mediation.
Khartoum’s Ministry of Health confirmed a report by local volunteers on Saturday that 17 people, including five children, were killed and 25 houses destroyed in Mayo, southern Khartoum.
The strike was the latest in a series of air and artillery strikes on the city’s poor and densely populated district, where most residents are unable to afford evacuation.
Air strikes
Late on Friday, the local resistance committee said 13 people had been killed in shelling in Allamab, western Khartoum, and declared the neighborhood an “operation zone”. Residents reported airstrikes elsewhere in southern and western Khartoum by midday.
The RSF said on Saturday it shot down an army warplane in Nile, west of Khartoum.
A video shared with Reuters showed smoke billowing near a fuel depot in southern Khartoum, a resident said.
According to the local committee in the Bait al-Mal neighborhood, airstrikes in central and southern Omdurman continued from Friday to Saturday, affecting homes and killing one person.
Three members of the same family were killed in East Al-Nil district after an airstrike on Friday, residents said.
In El-Jenina in West Darfur, more than 270,000 people have fled across the border to Chad, after more than 1,000 people were killed in attacks that residents and the US have blamed on the RSF and allied militias.
A Chadian military source and a local official in Edre, Chad, where many of the escapees have taken refuge, denied reports that Chadian troops had clashed with the RSF.
Chadian President General Mahatma Idriss Déby visited the region to observe the unfolding humanitarian crisis and ensure the closure of the border, the presidency said.
Inside Khartoum, the war has left millions without access to electricity, water and health care, and residents have been forced to eat rations. They report widespread looting.
