Sudan crisis: Fighting continues, ceasefire set to end at midnight

KHARTOUM, April 30 (Reuters) – Sudan’s rival military forces accused each other of fresh violations of a ceasefire that is set to expire on Sunday as their deadly conflict continued for a third week despite warnings of a slide towards catastrophic civil war.

Locked in a battle for Khartoum, Sudan’s capital on the Nile, the parties have fought on despite a series of ceasefires secured by mediators including the United States, the latest of which expires at midnight (2200 GMT).

 

The army said on Sunday it had destroyed RSF convoys moving towards Khartoum from the west. The RSF said the army had used artillery and warplanes to attack its positions in a number of areas in Khartoum province.

In an apparent bid to boost its forces, the army said on Saturday that the Central Reserve Police had begun to deploy in southern Khartoum and would be deployed gradually in other areas of the capital.

 

The RSF on Saturday warned it against becoming involved in fighting.

 

In March 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on the force, accusing it of using excessive force against protesters who were demonstrating against a 2021 military coup.

 

The fighting in Khartoum has so far seen RSF forces fan out across the city as the army tries to target them largely by using air strikes from drones and fighter jets.

 

“I left everything – my house, my car my everything and all my savings for 13 years. I’m leaving here, just to save my life,” said Mohammed Ali, a Pakistani man waiting to be evacuated from Port Sudan, part of an exodus of foreigners.

 

Army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has said he would never sit down with General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti. The RSF chief in turn said he would talk only after the army ceased hostilities.

 

“The foreign minister affirmed the Kingdom’s call for calm, prioritising national interest and stopping all forms of military escalation,” the ministry said.

 

AID

 

“Health-care workers in Sudan have been doing the impossible, caring for the wounded without water, electricity, and basic medical supplies,” said Patrick Youssef, the ICRC’s regional director for Africa.

 

At least five aid workers have been killed in the fighting.

 

The fighting has derailed an internationally-backed political transition aimed at establishing democratic government in Sudan, where former autocratic President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was toppled in 2019 after three decades in power.

 

At least 528 people have been killed and 4,599 wounded, the health ministry said. The United Nations has reported a similar number of dead, but believes the real toll is much higher.

 

Editing by Frances Kerry)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)