Cairo: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday Sudan Khartoum warned rival generals to abide by the latest ceasefire or face possible sanctions, as residents reported sporadic fighting between the sides in the capital of Khartoum and a northern city.
Sudan descended into chaos after fighting broke out in mid-April between the country’s army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force, led by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. According to the doctors’ syndicate, at least 863 civilians have died, including at least 190 children, and more than 3,530 have been injured.
The medical group said the toll could be much higher. the struggle Khartoum And other urban areas have also been turned into battlegrounds. Initially, foreign governments rushed to evacuate their diplomats and citizens as thousands of foreign residents struggled to leave Sudan.
According to UN figures, more than one million Sudanese have been forced from their homes by the fighting, including more than 840,000 who have sought shelter in safer parts of the country, and another 250,000 who have fled to neighboring countries.
In the past weeks, the United States America and mediating negotiations between the warring parties held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A new ceasefire was announced over the weekend – the seventh so far in an attempt to stop the deadly violence in the East African nation. This came into effect from Monday night.
All previous ceasefires have been violated. In a video message posted on social media by the US embassy early Tuesday, Blinken said the fight had been tragic, senseless and devastating. He said the ceasefire was aimed at providing humanitarian assistance and restoring essential services and infrastructure destroyed in the conflict.
A remote system supported by the US has been set up to monitor the ceasefire. Blinken said – a 12-member monitoring committee consisting of three representatives from the warring parties, three from the US and three from Saudi Arabia. “If there is a violation of the ceasefire, we will know and we will hold the violators accountable through sanctions and other means,” he said.
We facilitated the ceasefire, but it is the responsibility of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Force to implement it. Both sides agreed to cease hostilities and looting of civilian properties and humanitarian supplies, as well as confiscation of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, power plants, water pumps and fuel stations.
Aid workers and civilians have reported severe shortages of basic services, medical care, food and water, as well as widespread looting in Khartoum and elsewhere across the country. A doctor’s group has also said that the RSF has seized the hospitals. Allegations of sexual violence against women, including rape and gang rape, have also been reported in Khartoum and the restive West Darfur region.
Meanwhile, residents said they heard loud sounds of gunfire and explosions on Tuesday in parts of Omdurman, a town next to Khartoum, with military planes flying over it. They also reported sporadic clashes around the army’s headquarters in Khartoum.
Omdurman resident Babkar Abdel-Rahman, speaking on the phone, said the sounds of gunfire were very close. They don’t respect people’s lives. Fighting was also reported in the northern city of Obeid, where the RSF was said to have attacked the military headquarters and other parts of the city. assault did.
