Maxar satellite imagery of burning buildings and a military patrol northeast of the Khartoum International Airport in Sudan..
2023 Maxar Technologies | Getty Images
The Sudanese army and rival forces they’ve been battling for the reason that weekend, agreed Tuesday to a short lived, 24-hour cease-fire, Arab media reports said.
The fighting since Saturday has plunged the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and other areas of the country into chaos. Thousands and thousands of Sudanese within the capital and in other major cities have been hiding of their homes, caught within the crossfire because the two forces battle for control, with each general thus far insisting he’ll crush the opposite.
Satellite channels Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera had reports citing the highest military officer Shams El Din Kabbashi as saying that the military would comply with the cease-fire. Earlier, CNN Arabic also said in a report, citing the pinnacle of the country’s military, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, that the military can be party to the day-long truce.
The event got here a day after a U.S. Embassy convoy got here under fire in Sudan and forces of the 2 rivals pounded one another for a fourth day with heavy weapons.
The attack on the convoy in Khartoum, together with an assault on the EU envoy’s residence and the shelling of the Norwegian ambassador’s home, signaled an extra descent into chaos within the fighting. Thousands and thousands of Sudanese within the capital and in other major cities have been hiding of their homes, caught within the crossfire as the 2 forces battle for control, with each general thus far insisting he’ll crush the opposite.
The convoy of clearly marked U.S. Embassy vehicles was attacked Monday, and preliminary reports link the assailants to the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group battling Sudan’s military, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. Everyone within the convoy was secure, he said.
Greater than 185 people have been killed and greater than 1,800 wounded since fighting began Saturday, in accordance with U.N. figures, which didn’t include a breakdown of civilians and combatants. The Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate said Tuesday that at the very least 144 civilians were killed and greater than 1,400 were wounded.
The general death toll might be much higher because clashes in Khartoum have prevented the removal of bodies in some areas.
The State Department said late Monday that Blinken spoke by phone individually with the 2 rival generals — armed forces chief, Gen. Burhan, and RSF leader Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference on the State Department on December 22, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Win Mcnamee | Getty Images
“I made very clear that any attacks or threats or dangers posed to our diplomats were totally unacceptable,” Blinken told reporters on the Group of Seven wealthy nations meeting in Japan on Tuesday. He appealed for a direct 24-hour cease-fire, as a foundation for an extended truce and a return to negotiations.
Dagalo said in a series of tweets Tuesday that he had approved a 24-hour humanitarian truce after chatting with Blinken.
The military said in an announcement that it was “not aware of any coordination with mediators” on a truce and that more troops would join the battle. The fighting, it said, “entered the decisive phase,” and that the approaching hours would see a “crushing defeat” of the RSF.
More tanks and armored vehicles belonging to the military rolled into Khartoum early Tuesday, heading towards the military’s headquarters and the Republican Palace, the seat of power, residents said. Throughout the night, fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies.
Fighting resumed early Tuesday around either side’s predominant bases and at strategic government buildings — all of that are in residential areas. Video from the Arab TV network Al-Arabiya showed a big explosion near the predominant military headquarters in central Khartoum that raised a large cloud of smoke and dirt.
Satellite images from Maxar Technologies taken Monday showed damage across Khartoum, including to security service buildings. Tanks stood guard at a bridge over the White Nile River and other locations within the Sudanese capital.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC, also taken Monday, showed some 20 damaged civilian and military aircraft at Khartoum International Airport, which has a military section. Some had been completely destroyed, with one still belching smoke. On the El Obeid and Merowe air bases, north and south of Khartoum, several fighter jets were among the many destroyed aircraft.
The violence has raised the specter of civil war just because the Sudanese were attempting to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after many years of military rule.
Maxar satellite imagery of destroyed fuel trucks at fuel depot in Khartoum, Sudan.
2023 Maxar Technologies | Getty Images
Both sides already has tens of hundreds of troops distributed across the districts of Khartoum and town of Omdurman on the alternative bank of the Nile River. That has brought the fighting and chaos — with gunbattles, artillery barrages and airstrikes — to the doorsteps of the cities’ terrified residents.
Residents have reported looting of outlets and houses by fighters. One resident near Khartoum’s Arabic Market area, said he saw a gaggle of armed men in RSF uniform smashing doors of outlets in the world and stealing goods including mobile phones. The paramilitary force denied the accusations and claimed that some people disguised as RSF troops and stormed residential houses.
The assaults on diplomats’ homes were an extra sign of a conflict running uncontrolled.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell tweeted Monday that the EU ambassador to Sudan “was assaulted in his own residency,” without providing further details.
A Western diplomat in Cairo said the residence was ransacked by armed men in RSF uniforms. Nobody was hurt however the armed men stole several items, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to consult with the media.
The RSF denied involvement within the attack, as an alternative blaming the military. The military blamed the RSF, which grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudan’s Darfur region, for the attacks on the U.S. convoy and the EU envoy’s home.
Early Sunday, the Norwegian ambassador’s residence in Khartoum was hit by a shell, Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in an announcement. The hit caused damage however the ambassador was not injured, she said, adding that it didn’t appear the residence was intentionally targeted.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday called for a direct cease-fire and for the combatants to return to negotiations.
Smoke rises in Omdurman, near Halfaya Bridge, during clashes between the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the military as seen from Khartoum North, Sudan April 15, 2023.
Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah | Reuters
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday called for a direct cease-fire and for the combatants to return to negotiations.
“Sudan has already endured a lot pain and suffering. The fighting is born out of power games and private interests that only serve to alienate the democratic aspirations of the population,” Türk said in an announcement.
Only 4 years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a preferred rebellion helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.
Burhan and Dagalo jointly orchestrated an October 2021 coup, derailing efforts to enshrine a civilian government. Each generals have a protracted history of human rights abuses, and their forces have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.
Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups. However the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the combination of the RSF into the armed forces and the longer term chain of command — tensions that exploded into violence Saturday.