© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man walks as smoke billows over buildings after an air strike, during clashes between paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in North Khartoum, Sudan, May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/File photo
CAIRO/DUBAI (Reuters) – Airstrikes struck areas outside the Sudanese capital Khartoum overnight and on Saturday morning as fighting that has trapped civilians in a humanitarian crisis and displaced more than a million they entered their sixth week.
Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to a breakdown of law and order with looting for which both sides blame the other. Stocks of food, cash and essential items are dwindling rapidly.
Eyewitnesses reported airstrikes in southern Omdurman and northern Bahri, the two cities lying across the Nile from Khartoum, which form Sudan’s “triple capital”. Some of the attacks took place near the state broadcaster in Omdurman, eyewitnesses said.
“We faced heavy artillery fire early this morning, the whole house was shaking,” Sanaa Hassan, a 33-year-old woman living in the al-Salha neighborhood of Omdurman, told Reuters by phone.
“It was terrifying, everyone was lying under their beds. What is happening is a nightmare,” she said.
The RSF are embedded in residential districts, provoking almost continuous air raids by the regular armed forces.
Eyewitnesses in Khartoum said the situation was relatively calm, although sporadic gunshots could be heard.
The conflict, which began on April 15, has displaced nearly 1.1 million people internally and to neighboring countries. Some 705 people have died and at least 5,287 have been injured, according to the World Health Organization.
Talks sponsored by Saudi Arabia and the United States in the Saudi city of Jeddah have not been fruitful, and the two warring parties have accused each other of violating multiple ceasefire agreements.
In recent days, ground fighting has broken out again in the Darfur region, in the cities of Nyala and Zalenjei.
Both sides blamed each other in statements late Friday for sparking fighting in Nyala, one of the country’s largest cities, which for weeks had been relatively quiet due to a locally negotiated truce.
A local activist told Reuters there were sporadic armed clashes near the city’s main market near the army headquarters on Saturday morning. Nearly 30 people have been killed in the previous two days of clashes, according to activists.
CHURCHES BETWEEN LOOTED BUILDINGS
The war broke out in Khartoum after disputes over plans for the RSF to integrate into the army and over the future chain of command under an internationally-backed deal to steer Sudan towards democracy after decades of conflict-plagued autocracy.
On Friday, army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan removed RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo as his deputy on the governing council they head. He replaced him with former rebel leader Malik Agar.
In a statement on Saturday, Agar said she had accepted the post to help secure peace and support for the upcoming farming season, the failure of which would mean widespread famine.
He said his message to the army was that “there is no alternative to peace but peace and there is no other path to peace other than dialogue.”
“My message to the RSF is that there is no way of stability except with a united army,” he added, but it is unclear how much influence he will have on each side.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced late Friday more than $100 million in aid to Sudan and countries receiving fleeing Sudanese, including much-needed food and medical assistance.
“It’s hard to convey the magnitude of the suffering that’s happening right now in Sudan,” said the agency’s director, Samantha Power.
Among the many buildings looted in the capital are several churches, including the Church of the Virgin Mary in central Khartoum, according to a church official. Gunmen gave the bishop a week to vacate the church premises, after which they ransacked it before establishing it as their base, he said.
Church leaders have said they are not sure if the attacks are targeted or part of the general “chaos” gripping Khartoum.
In a statement, Qatar said its embassy was the latest in a series of embassies looted.