More than 185 people have been killed in Sudan where the power struggle of the two generals in charge since the 2021 putsch has gained in intensity. While on the diplomatic front, voices are rising to demand an end to the fighting.
In the sky of Khartoum, the planes of the army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, de facto leader of the country since the putsch of 2021, try to overcome intense fire from the armored vehicles of the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF ) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, his second for the coup d’etat who has become his sworn enemy since Saturday.
After three employees of the World Food Program (WFP) were killed in Darfur (west), humanitarian workers denounce looting and the UN of “serious violations” against its staff. Monday evening, the European Union announced that its ambassador had been “attacked in his residence” in Khartoum where street fighting and bombardments are incessant and spare no sector.
Because of them, several NGOs and UN agencies have ceased to operate in the country where hunger affects more than one in three inhabitants.
At least two hospitals in the capital have been evacuated “while rockets and bullets riddled their walls”, announced doctors who say they have no more blood bags or equipment to treat the wounded.
Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) says it received 136 wounded on Monday in its last functional hospital in North Darfur. “The majority are civilians who were shot, including many children,” reports the NGO. “Eleven died” on Saturday and Sunday due to lack of equipment and personnel.
In Khartoum, since the outbreak of fighting on Saturday, residents have barricaded themselves in their homes. Above them, columns of thick black smoke rise, the smell of gunpowder pricks the nostrils and everyone wonders when the electricity and running water will return.
The G7 And The UN Call For an End to The Fighting
The G7 foreign ministers called on Tuesday for an “immediate” end to hostilities in Sudan, where calls for a truce have so far been ignored by the two generals.
In the morning of Tuesday, Mohamed Hamdane Daglo said on Twitter that the RSF had approved a 24-hour ceasefire, but added that it could not be maintained, incriminating the Sudanese armed forces, guilty, according to him. , of “flagrant violation of the foundations and principles of international and humanitarian law”.
The day before, an American diplomatic convoy in Sudan had come under fire, but no one was injured, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed on Tuesday, citing an “irresponsible” act.
“I am able to confirm that an American diplomatic convoy came under fire” Monday in Sudan, Mr. Blinken said. “All our staff are safe and sound” but this act is “irresponsible”, he added after a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Japan.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also called on the two rival generals who are vying for power in Sudan on Monday to “immediately cease hostilities” on the third day of deadly fighting.
“I strongly condemn the outbreak of fighting taking place in Sudan and call on the leaders of the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to immediately cease hostilities, restore calm and begin a dialogue to resolve the crisis,” he said. -he declares.
This article is originally published on fr.euronews.com
