Africa
Sudan's top general says military committed to civilian rule
Sudan's top general on Friday declared the military's commitment to a civilian-led government, an apparent bid for international support days after brutal fighting between his forces and a powerful paramilitary group derailed hopes for the country's democratic transition.
In his first speech since the conflict engulfed Sudan nearly a week ago, army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan pledged the military would prevail and secure the vast African nation's "safe transition to civilian rule." But for many Sudanese, Burhan's claim rang hollow 18 months after he joined forces with his current rival to seize power in a coup that cast aside Sudan's pro-democracy forces.
Burhan's announcement came on the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan and its month of fasting. The day — typically filled with prayer, celebration and feasting — was a somber one in Sudan, as gunshots rang out across the capital of Khartoum and heavy smoke billowed over the skyline. Mosques held mass morning prayers inside to protect worshippers from the intensified fighting, which so far has killed some 300 people.
"We are confident that we will overcome this ordeal with our training, wisdom and strength," Burhan said in his speech, vowing to preserve "the security and unity of the state."
"Ruin and destruction and the sound of bullets have left no place for the happiness everyone in our beloved country deserves," he added.
The video marked the first time Burhan has been seen since violence erupted in Khartoum and other areas of the country.
The explosions and gunfire rocking Khartoum on Friday followed frenzied international calls for a holiday cease-fire. After the United Nations and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged a respite from the spiraling violence, Burhan's military claimed Friday the sides had agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire. Its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, also promised to stop fighting for the three days of Eid al-Fitr to allow for evacuations and safe corridors. But such proposed pauses in the fighting have repeatedly collapsed over the past week.
The two generals vying for control over the vast African nation are also vying for acceptance by foreign powers, which have tried to usher in Sudan's much-awaited transition to democracy. Even as the factions — led by Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo — engaged in international negotiations and sought to portray themselves as supporters of democracy on the world stage, they jointly seized power in a 2021 coup that effectively made them Sudan's most powerful leaders.
Both Burhan and Dagalo have repeatedly failed to implement agreements that would get them to hand over power, including a 2019 deal struck after the generals turned on long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir in the wake of a pro-democracy popular uprising against his rule.
Deepening the impasse, Sudan's military ruled out negotiations with the rival Rapid Support Forces on Thursday, saying it would only accept its surrender.
The military's stance raised the likelihood of a renewed surge in the violence that has pushed Sudan's population to the brink and opened a dark and tumultuous chapter in the country's history. Fears are mounting that the chaos in the strategically located nation could also draw in its neighbors, including Chad, Egypt and Libya.
Both the military and Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, have a long history of human rights abuses in Sudan. The RSF was born out of the Janjaweed militias, which were accused of widespread atrocities when the government deployed them to put down a rebellion in Sudan's western Darfur region in the early 2000s.
Sudan army demands rivals’ surrender as cease-fire runs out
Sudan’s military ruled out negotiations with a rival paramilitary force on Thursday, saying it would only accept its surrender as the two sides continued to battle in central Khartoum and other parts of the country, threatening to wreck international attempts to broker a longer cease-fire.
A tenuous 24-hour cease-fire that began the previous day ran out Thursday evening with no word of extension. The military’s statement raised the likelihood of a renewed surge in the nearly week-long violence that has killed hundreds and pushed Sudan’s population to the breaking point. Alarm has grown that the country’s medical system was on the verge of collapse, with many hospitals forced to shut down and others running out of supplies.
The expiring truce had failed to put a stop to fighting throughout the day and brought only marginal calm to some parts of the capital Khartoum. But many residents took advantage to flee the homes where they have been trapped for days. “Massive numbers” of people, mostly women and children, were leaving in search of safer areas, said Atiya Abdulla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors’ Syndicate.
Thursday afternoon, the military said in a statement that it would not negotiate with its rival, the Rapid Support Forces, over an end to the crisis and would only discuss terms of its surrender. “There would be no armed forces outside (of) the military system,” it said.
The demise of the truce, the second attempt this week, underscored the failure of the United States, U.N., European Union and regional powers to push Sudan’s top generals to halt their campaigns to seize control of the country. Instead, army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan and RSF commander Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo have each appeared determined to win outright military victory over the other.
In a sign they expect violence to escalate, the U.S. and other countries were making preparations to evacuate their citizens in Sudan — a difficult prospect since most major airports have become battlegrounds and movement out of Khartoum to safer areas is dangerous.
The U.S. military is moving assets to a base in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti for a possible evacuation of American Embassy personnel, administration officials said. Japan plans to send military planes to Djibouti, and the Netherlands has dispatched its own to Jordan.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres appealed for the combatants to commit to a three-day cease-fire to coincide with the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, beginning Friday, marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. “We are living a very important moment in the Muslim calendar. I think this is the right moment for a cease-fire to hold,” he told reporters.
But so far direct communications to the rival generals by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Turkish president and others over the past days have been unable to secure even 24 hours of calm, much less a longer truce aimed at leading to negotiations to resolve the crisis. Each side’s main regional allies, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, have called in vain for talks.
At least 330 people have been killed and 3,300 wounded in the fighting since it began Saturday, the U.N.’s World Health Organization said, but the toll is likely higher because many bodies lie uncollected in the streets.
Through the day Thursday, gunfire could be heard constantly across Khartoum. Residents reported the heaviest fighting around the main military headquarters in central Khartoum. Military warplanes struck RSF positions at the airport and in the neighboring city of Omdurman, residents said. The military said its warplanes Thursday also struck a convoy of RSF vehicles heading to the capital, though the claim could not be independently confirmed.
Khartoum residents have been desperate for a respite after days of being trapped in their homes, their food and water running out. Aid groups have been unable to deliver help to Sudan’s overwhelmed hospitals, Atiya said. Hospitals in Khartoum are running dangerously low on medical supplies, often operating without power and clean water. Around 70% of hospitals near the clash sites throughout the country are out of service, the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate said Thursday. At least nine hospitals were bombed, it said.
“We are worried that Sudan’s healthcare system could completely collapse,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general, said.
Airstrikes on Thursday afternoon hit medical facilities in Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan province southwest of Khartoum, killing at least 26 civilians and 17 policemen, the Doctors’ Syndicate said. Clashes have intensified in the city, driving more than 3,300 people from their homes, many o them crowding in a school and a sports facility, it said.
The fighting has been disastrous for a country where the United Nations says around a third of the population — some 16 million people — are in need of humanitarian aid. The U.N. children’s agency UNICEF warned that critical care has been disrupted for 50,000 severely acutely malnourished children, who need round-the-clock treatment.
Save the Children said power outages across the country have destroyed cold chain storage facilities for lifesaving vaccines, as well as the national stock of insulin and several antibiotics. Millions of children, the aid group said, are now at risk of disease and further health complications. It said 12% of the country’s 22 million children are suffering from malnutrition and are vulnerable to other diseases.
The Egyptian and Sudanese militaries said that Egypt succeeded in repatriating dozens of its military personnel who had been detained by the RSF when it attacked Merowe airport, north of the capital, early in the fighting. Egypt said its personnel were there for training and joint exercises.
The conflict has once again derailed Sudan’s attempt to establish democratic rule since a popular uprising helped oust helped depose long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir four years ago. Burhan and Dagalo jointly carried out a coup purging civilians from a transitional government in 2021.
The explosion of violence came after weeks of growing tensions between the two generals over new international attempts to press a return to civilian government.
Both sides have a long history of human rights abuses. The RSF was born out of the Janjaweed militias, which were accused of widespread atrocities when the government deployed them to put down a rebellion in Sudan’s western Darfur region in the early 2000s.
The conflict has raised fears of a spillover from the strategically located nation to its African neighbors.
Sudan’s fighting has also caused up to 20,000 Sudanese to seek refuge in eastern Chad, the U.N. said Thursday. At least 320 Sudanese soldiers fled to Chad, where they were disarmed, said Daoud Yaya Brahim, Chad’s defense minister. The troops were apparently fleeing from Darfur, where the RSF is the most powerful armed force.
“Chad is for the moment trying to remain neutral … (but) Chad will be forced to pick sides if Sudan continues its descent into civil war,” said Benjamin Hunger, Africa analyst for Verisk Maplecroft, a risk assessment firm. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press correspondent Fay Abuelgasim contributed from Beirut.
Sudanese army, rivals announce another cease-fire
Sudan's military and its paramilitary rival each have announced that they will abide by a 24-hour cease-fire, starting Wednesday evening, after a previous attempt at a truce failed a day earlier.
The military said in a statement that the truce had begun at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday, that it was "for humanitarian purposes" and would last until the next evening, "depending on whether the other side adheres to its provisions."
Earlier in the day, its opponent, the Rapid Support Forces, had said it would abide by a 24-hour truce starting in the evening.
A similar pause Tuesday night fell apart almost immediately, and it was not clear if the new attempt would hold. Residents in Omdurman, the city adjacent to the capital Khartoum, said they still heard sporadic gunfire and explosions after the announced truce took effect.
Terrified Sudanese who have been trapped for days in their homes by fighting in the capital of Khartoum fled on Wednesday, hauling out whatever belongings they could carry and trying to get out of the city, after an internationally brokered truce failed. Explosions shook the city as the army and a rival paramilitary force battled for a fifth day in the streets.
The swift failure of the 24-hour cease-fire, despite pressure from the United States and regional powers, suggested that Sudan's two top generals were determined to crush each other in a potentially prolonged fight for control of the country. It also underscored the inability of the international community to force a stop to the violence, with millions of people caught in the crossfire.
Residents of multiple neighborhoods in Khartoum told The Associated Press they could see hundreds of people, including women and children, leaving their homes, carrying luggage, some leaving by foot, others crowding into vehicles. Residents had been desperately holding out in hopes for a halt in the mayhem on their doorsteps, but with food and other supplies running low and no sign of respite, it appeared many had decided to risk making an escape.
"Khartoum has become a ghost city," said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors' Syndicate, who is still in the capital.
Nearly 300 people have been killed in the past five days, the U.N. health agency said, but the toll is likely higher, since many bodies have been left in the streets, unreachable because of clashes.
Residents said the military was pounding positions of the opposing Rapid Support Forces with airstrikes since early Wednesday, while gunbattles continued to rage outside the main military headquarters in central Khartoum, which the RSF has tried repeatedly to capture.
At the nearby airport, another front line, palls of black smoke rose and a damaged aircraft was in flames, according to satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs PBC. A high-rise in the city center was on fire with burning debris falling from its top floors, according to footage by the Al Arabiya news network. Fierce clashes were also reported around the state television building across the Nile River in the adjacent city Omdurman.
The army's monopoly on air power has appeared to give it an edge in fighting in Khartoum and Omdurman, enabling it to take several RSF bases over the past few days. But tens of thousands of fighters from the paramilitary force are fanned out across neighborhoods.
The result has been scenes of chaos. Residents have spoken of armed men looting shops and attacking anyone found on the streets.
"They take whatever they can, and if you resist, they kill you," said Mahasen Ali, a tea vendor. She said many in her south Khartoum neighborhood have left their homes to take refuge in open areas, hoping to be safe from shelling hitting buildings. Others fled the city to stay with relatives elsewhere, she said.
A 24-hour cease-fire was to have been in effect from sundown Tuesday to sundown Wednesday. It was the most concrete attempt yet to bring a pause that it was hoped could be expanded into a longer truce.
It came after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately by phone with the two rivals — the leader of the armed forces, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. Egypt, which backs the Sudanese military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have close ties to the RSF, have also been calling on all sides to stand down.
But fighting continued after the intended start of the truce and through the night. Each side blamed the other for the failure.
The RSF said it has agreed on a day-long truce to take effect Thursday at 6 p.m. local time. There was no immediate comment from the military.
Aid agencies and foreigners, including diplomats, have also been trapped in the fighting.
The aid group Doctors Without Borders, or MSF after its French name, said in a tweet that its compound in Nyala in the western Darfur region had been raided by armed men who stole vehicles and office equipment and looted a warehouse storing medical supplies. The International Committee of the Red Cross said its office in Niyala was also looted, with one vehicle taken.
Darfur, which has been the scene of heavy fighting since the weekend, is a stronghold of the RSF, where the force had its origins among the Janjaweed militias, accused of atrocities during the long conflict there.
German media, including the DPA news agency, reported that three A400M transport planes were dispatched to evacuate German citizens from Khartoum, but turned around Wednesday due to security concerns in Khartoum. Japan said it was preparing to send military aircraft to evacuate about 60 Japanese nationals.
In Brussels, Dana Spinant, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, confirmed reports that a senior EU official had been shot and wounded in Sudan. Spinant did not provide details.
The New York Times identified the official as Wim Fransen, a Belgian national. The report said Fransen was receiving medical treatment for serious injuries. It said he had gone missing on Sunday evening and that his colleagues tracked him down Tuesday.
Another spokeswoman said the EU office in Khartoum is still operating and the delegation is not being evacuated. The EU ambassador, who was assaulted when gunmen broke into his residence several days ago, is back at work, she said.
Hospitals in Khartoum are running dangerously low on medical supplies, often operating without power and clean water, the ICRC said in a statement. Dozens of health care facilities in Khartoum and around the country have stopped functioning because they are close to clashes, the Sudanese Doctors' Syndicate said Wednesday. At least nine hospitals were bombed, it said.
"Our urgent priority is to get medical assistance to hospitals and try to make repairs to their water and power lines so they can treat the wounded," said Patrick Youssef, the ICRC's Africa regional director. But fighting has made it impossible to reach the facilities.
The U.N.'s World Health Organization said Wednesday that at least 296 people have been killed and more than 3,000 wounded since fighting began, without offering a breakdown of civilians and combatants killed. The Doctors' Syndicate, which monitors casualties, said Tuesday that at least 174 civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded.
The conflict between the military and the RSF has once again derailed Sudan's transition to democratic rule after decades of dictatorship and civil war.
A popular uprising four years ago helped depose long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir. But Burhan and Dagalo joined to carry out a 2021 coup. Both generals have a long 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. But the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command.
Daylong truce reportedly reached in Sudan goes into effect
A 24-hour cease-fire reportedly reached between Sudan's rival generals went into effect on Tuesday, but heavy fighting raged up until the time it was supposed to begin, and it was unclear whether it would hold.
The truce, reported by several Arab media outlets, was to begin Tuesday at 6 p.m. local time.
Forces loyal to Sudan's two top generals continued fighting each other in the streets of Khartoum throughout the day, underscoring the fragility of efforts to bring even a pause in the intensifying violence that has threatened to spiral even further into chaos.
Millions of Sudanese in the capital and in other cities have been hiding in their homes, caught in the crossfire as rival forces pounded residential areas with artillery and airstrikes and engaged in gunbattles outside. Residents have spoken of bodies of the dead left lying in the streets, unreachable because of clashes, pointing to a toll that is likely to be far higher than the more than 180 dead reported so far by the U.N. since fighting began Saturday.
Over the past day, fighters in Khartoum attacked a U.S. Embassy convoy and stormed the home of the EU envoy to Sudan, though neither attack caused casualties. 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 in the convoy was safe, he said.
The violence has raised the specter of civil war just as the Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule. Amid increasing alarm, Blinken had stepped up efforts for a cease-fire.
He spoke by phone late Monday separately with the two rival generals — armed forces chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan and RSF leader Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo — seeking a 24-hour halt in fighting as a foundation for a longer truce and return to negotiations.
Dagalo said in a series of tweets Tuesday that he had approved a 24-hour humanitarian truce after speaking to Blinken.
Initially, the military said in a statement that it was "not aware of any coordination with mediators" on a truce and vowed to step up the battle. The fighting, it said, "entered the decisive phase," and that the coming hours would see a "crushing defeat" of the RSF.
Later, satellite channels Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera cited Lt. Gen. Shams El Din Kabbashi as saying the military would comply with the cease-fire starting at 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT). CNN Arabic also cited Burhan, saying the military would be party to the day-long truce.
There was no immediate public announcement of a cease-fire from military officials, however.
More tanks and armored vehicles belonging to the military rolled into Khartoum early Tuesday, heading toward the military's headquarters and the Republican Palace, the seat of power, residents said. During the night, fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the sky.
In the afternoon, clashes were still reported around the military's headquarters and close to the neighboring airport, both major battle zones. Throughout the day, the two sides battled around main bases and at strategic government buildings, all of which are in residential areas.
Each side already has tens of thousands of troops distributed around the districts of Khartoum and the city of Omdurman on the opposite bank of the Nile River. Terrified residents trapped in their homes for days have hoped for a halt long enough at least to get supplies or move to safer areas. The fighting erupted suddenly at the start of the last week of the Islamic holy month of fasting, Ramadan.
"We are trying to take advantage of Ramadan to try to continue our faith and prayer," said Mohammed Al Faki, one of 89 students and staffers trapped in the engineering building at Khartoum University. "We are trying to help each other stay patient until this crisis is over."
One student was killed by a sniper, he said, and they buried his body on the campus. The students and staff try to stay inside but, he said, they have had to go out for supplies occasionally, risking harrasment by RSF fighters battling troops nearby.
"They are attacking us on the streets. They are looting. If you are walking, they will take even your phone from you in the street. There is no safety," the 19-year-old student said of the RSF. "Our biggest problem is how can we get out of these two square kilometers."
U.N. figures have put the toll from fighting at more than 185 dead and 1,800 wounded, without providing a breakdown of civilians and combatants. The Sudan Doctors' Syndicate said Tuesday that at least 144 civilians were killed and more than 1,400 wounded but that many dead could still not be reached to be counted.
"There is no respect to our lives ... Nobody is able to go out even to bury bodies littered in the streets," said Farah Abbas, a 65-year-old huddling in his home in Khartoum's Mamoura district. Speaking to The Associated Press by phone, he said streets were empty because of continual clashes in his district.
Damage from the fighting has been widespread. Videos posted online Tuesday showed Souq al-Bahri, a large outdoor market in northern Khartoum, in flames from nearby clashes. 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 in 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. At the El Obeid and Merowe air bases, north and south of Khartoum, several fighter jets were among the destroyed aircraft.
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. No one was hurt but the armed men stole several items, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Early on Sunday, the Norwegian ambassador's residence was hit by a shell, causing damage but no injuries, Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said.
The fighting is the latest chapter in Sudan's turmoil since a popular uprising four years ago helped depose long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
Burhan and Dagalo jointly orchestrated an October 2021 coup, derailing efforts to enshrine a civilian government. Both generals have a long 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. But the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command — tensions that exploded into violence Saturday.
Sudan hospitals struggle with casualties, damage in fighting
At the Khartoum Teaching Hospital, people wounded during street battles flowed into the wards. Supplies were running low, with doctors, nurses, patients and their relatives trapped inside for days as the Sudanese capital turned into a war zone.
Then early Monday, one of the wards was heavily damaged by shelling.
“We are running out of everything,” Dr. Amin Saad told The Associated Press. “We are working with the least possible capabilities. … We’re all exhausted, but there is a shortage of physicians.”
Not long afterward, the hospital shut down completely — with staff, patients and relatives stuck inside as clashes raged throughout the neighborhood. It was one of at least 12 hospitals shuttered in the capital area because they were damaged in fighting, were inaccessible because of clashes or had run out of fuel, according to the Doctors’ Syndicate.
Khartoum’s hospitals have been thrown into chaos by the explosion of violence between Sudan’s two top generals. People have been unable to leave their homes since Saturday as the two sides engaged in gun battles and bombarded each other with artillery and airstrikes. More than 180 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, U.N. envoy Volker Perthes said.
READ: Sudan’s generals battle for 3rd day; death toll soars to 185
There are some 20 hospitals in the capital and the neighboring city of Omdurman. Those that still managed to operate were understaffed and overwhelmed, running low on supplies and struggling with power or water cuts, doctors said.
The sudden outbreak of fighting caught everyone off guard, trapping doctors and nurses inside hospitals, and preventing other staff from reaching the facilities.
“I tried multiple times the past two days but was forced to return (home) because of the battles,” said Dr. Sara Mohi, who has been unable to get to the hospital where she works in central Khartoum.
The situation is “extremely dire,” said Atiya Abdulla Atiya of the Doctors’ Syndicate.
The World Health Organization said many hospitals in Khartoum reported shortages of “blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids, medical supplies and other life-saving commodities.”
Along with the Khartoum Teaching Hospital, the Al-Shaab Teaching Hospital shut down Monday after a ward was struck in fighting, said the general manager, Al Nameir Gibril Ibrahim.
Online video Monday showed staff evacuating patients from the Al-Shaheed Salma kidney treatment clinic amid clashes. With gunfire ringing out, staffers ducked and rushed a gurney with a patient across the street. Another facility, the Police Hospital, was evacuated on Sunday, the syndicate said.
Dr. Ossama al-Shazly, head of the International Hospital in Khartoum’s northern Bahri district, took to social media late Sunday to appeal for fuel to keep generators running after power was cut to the neighborhood.
“The situation is very critical. We want people to provide fuel,” he said, adding that many patients needed surgeries and others were in intensive care units, with no place to evacuate them to.
Sudan’s generals battle for 3rd day; death toll soars to 185
As explosions and gunfire thundered outside, Sudanese in the capital Khartoum and other cities huddled in their homes for a third day Monday, while the army and a powerful rival force battled in the streets for control of the country.
At least 185 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, U.N. envoy Volker Perthes told reporters. The two sides are using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.
The toll could be much higher because there are many bodies in the streets around central Khartoum that no one can reach because of the clashes. There has been no official word on how many civilians or combatants have been killed. The doctors’ syndicate earlier put the number of civilian deaths at 97.
The sudden outbreak of violence over the weekend between the nation’s two top generals, each backed by tens of thousands of heavily armed fighters, trapped millions of people in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low and several hospitals forced to shut down.
Top diplomats on four continents scrambled to broker a truce, and the U.N. Security Council was set to discuss the crisis.
“Gunfire and shelling are everywhere,” Awadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for thousands of tea vendors and other food workers, said from her home in a southern district of Khartoum.
She said a shell stuck a neighbor’s house Sunday, killing at least three people. “We couldn’t take them to a hospital or bury them.”
In central Khartoum, sustained gunfire erupted and white smoke rose near the main military headquarters, a major battle front. Nearby, at least 88 students and staffers have been trapped in the engineering college library at Khartoum University since the start of fighting, one of the students said in a video posted online Monday. One student was killed during clashes outside and another wounded, he said. They do not have food or water, he said, showing a room full of people sleeping on the floor.
Even in a country with a long history of military coups, the scenes of fighting in the capital and its adjoining city Omdurman across the Nile River were unprecedented. The turmoil comes just days before Sudanese were to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting.
The power struggle pits Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, against Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. The former allies jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup. The violence has raised the specter of civil war just as Sudanese were trying to revive the drive for a democratic, civilian government after decades of military rule.
Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo had recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups, but the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command.
The U.S., the U.N. and others have called for a truce. Egypt, which backs Sudan’s military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — which forged close ties to the RSF in recent years as it sent thousands of fighters to support their war in Yemen — have also called for both sides to stand down.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said late Monday that Cairo was in “constant contact” with both the army and the RSF, urging them to halt the fighting and return to negotiations.
But both generals have thus far dug in, demanding the other’s surrender.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell tweeted that the EU ambassador to Sudan “was assaulted in his own residency,” without providing further details. EU officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Dagalo, whose forces grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudan’s Darfur region, has portrayed himself as a defender of democracy and branded Burhan as the aggressor and a “radical Islamist.” Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses and their forces have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.
Heavy gunbattles raged in multiple parts of the capital and Omdurman, where the two sides have brought in tens of thousands of troops, positioning them in nearly every neighborhood.
Twelve hospitals in the capital area have been “forcefully evacuated” and are “out of service” because of attacks or power outages, the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate said, out of a total of around 20 hospitals. Four other hospitals outside the capital have also shut down, it added in a statement late Monday.
Hadia Saeed said she and her three children were sheltering in one room on the ground floor of their home for fear of the shelling as gunfire rattled across their Bahri district in north Khartoum. They have food for a few more days, but “after that we don’t know what to do,” she said.
Residents said fierce fighting with artillery and other heavy weapons raged Monday afternoon in the Gabra neighborhood southwest of Khartoum. People were trapped and screaming inside their homes, said Asmaa al-Toum, a physician living in the area.
Fighting has been particularly fierce around each side’s main bases and at strategic government buildings — all of which are in residential areas.
The military on Monday claimed to have secured the main television building in Omdurman, fending off the RSF after days of fighting. State-run Sudan TV resumed broadcasting.
On Sunday, the RSF said it abandoned its main barracks and base, in Omdurman, which the armed forces had pounded with airstrikes. Online videos Monday purported to show the bodies of dozens of men said to be RSF fighters at the base, strewn over beds, the floor of a clinic and outside in a yard. The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently.
The military and RSF were also fighting in most major centers around the country, including in the western Darfur region and parts of the north and the east, by the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia. Battles raged Monday around a strategic airbase in Merowe, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) northwest of the capital, with both sides claiming control of the facility.
Only four years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a popular uprising helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.
But the turmoil since, especially the 2021 coup, has frustrated the democracy drive and wrecked the economy. A third of the population — around 16 million people — now depends on humanitarian assistance in the resource-rich nation, Africa’s third largest.
Save the Children, an international charity, said it has temporarily suspended most of its operations across Sudan. It said looters raided its offices in Darfur, stealing medical supplies, laptops, vehicles and a refrigerator. The World Food Program suspended operations over the weekend after three employees were killed in Darfur, and the International Rescue Committee has also halted most operations.
With the U.S., European Union, African and Arab nations all calling for an end to fighting, the U.N. Security Council was to discuss the developments in Sudan. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was consulting with the Arab League, African Union and leaders in the region, urging anyone with influence to press for peace.
At a meeting of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in Japan on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Sudanese “want the military back in the barracks. They want democracy. They want the civilian-led government, Sudan needs to return to that path.”
Sudan battles intensify on 3rd day; civilian deaths reach 97
Sudan’s embattled capital awoke Monday to a third day of heavy fighting between the army and a powerful rival force for control of the country, as the weekend’s civilian death toll rose to 97.
Airstrikes and shelling intensified in parts of Khartoum and the adjoining city of Omdurman. Rapid, sustained firing was heard near the military headquarters, with white smoke rising from the area. Residents hunkering down in their homes reported power outages and incidents of looting.
“Gunfire and shelling are everywhere,” Awadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for thousands of tea vendors and other food workers, said from her home in Khartoum.
She said a shell stuck a neighbor’s house Sunday, killing at least three people. “We couldn’t take them to a hospital or bury them.”
The clashes are part of a power struggle between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. The two generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan’s short-lived transition to democracy.
Both men have dug in, saying they would not negotiate a truce, instead engaging in verbal attacks and demanding the other’s surrender.
On Monday, Dagalo, whose forces grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudan’s Darfur region, portrayed himself in a statement on Twitter as a defender of democracy and branded Burhan as the aggressor and a “radical Islamist.”
Pro-democracy activists have noted that both generals have a long history of human rights abuses. At the same time, both men have powerful foreign backers, making them potentially susceptible to mounting diplomatic pressure to end the fighting.
Since fighting erupted on Saturday, 97 civilians have been killed and hundreds have been wounded, said the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, a pro-democracy group monitoring casualties.
There has been no official word on the number of fighters killed.
Footage posted online Monday purported to show RSF barracks in Omdurman. The bodies of dozens of men in camouflage uniforms were seen sprawled on beds and the floor of a medical ward and in a sandy outdoor area.
The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently, but they surfaced after the military said it has targeted RSF bases with airstrikes. Mohmed al-Mokhtar al-Nour, an RSF adviser, told the Al Jazeera satellite network Sunday that RSF forces have withdrawn from the camp.
The chaotic scenes of fighting with tanks, truck-mounted machine guns, artillery and warplanes in densely populated areas of the capital are unprecedented. Sudan has a long history of civil strife, but much of that has taken place in remote tribal areas, far from Khartoum.
Fighting also spread to the war-wrecked western Darfur region, and areas of northern and eastern Sudan, near the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia.
The violence erupted during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends later this week and is capped by the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday.
The battles created more hardships for Sudan, where about 16 million people, or one-third of the population, depend on humanitarian assistance.
Over the weekend, the World Food Program suspended operations in Sudan after three employees were killed in Darfur. On Monday, the International Rescue Committee also said it was halting its work because of the conflict, with the exception of a refugee camp in the southeast.
On Sunday, the warring sides agreed to a three-hour pause in fighting to allow civilians to stock up on necessities. Compliance was spotty, and there were reports of casualties during the humanitarian pause. Volker Perthes, the U.N. envoy for Sudan, called out the breaches Monday and urged both sides to “ensure the protection of all civilians.”
Koko, the head of the tea vendors’ union, said Burhan and Dagalo must stop fighting and withdraw troops from residential areas. “We, the people, want to live in peace,” she said. “We want security.”
Top diplomats urged the sides to stop fighting, including the U.S. secretary of state, the U.N. secretary-general, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission. The U.N. Security Council was to discuss the developments in Sudan later on Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed his call for a truce and a return to negotiations during a meeting of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in Japan on Monday.
“People in Sudan want the military back in the barracks,” he said. “They want democracy. They want the civilian-led government, Sudan needs to return to that path.”
In recent months, negotiations had been under way to get back on a path to democracy. Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups.
However, the deal was vague on key points of dispute, including how the RSF would be integrated into the armed force and who would have final control. The signing of the deal was put off repeatedly as tensions rose between Burhan and Dagalo.
The fighting marks a deadly setback for Sudan, a resource-rich nation strategically located at the crossroads of Africa and the Arab world. Only four years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a popular uprising helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.
Sudan battles intensify on 3rd day; civilian deaths reach 97
Sudan's embattled capital awoke Monday to a third day of heavy fighting between the army and a powerful rival force for control of the country, as the weekend's civilian death toll rose to 97.
Airstrikes and shelling intensified in parts of Khartoum and the adjoining city of Omdurman. Rapid, A sustained firing was heard near the military headquarters, with white smoke rising from the area. Residents hunkering down in their homes reported power outages and incidents of looting.
“Gunfire and shelling are everywhere,” Wadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for thousands of tea vendors and other food workers, said from her home in Khartoum.
She said a shell stuck a neighbor's house Sunday, killing at least three people. “We couldn’t take them to a hospital or bury them.”
The clashes are part of a power struggle between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. The two generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan’s short-lived transition to democracy.
Both men have dug in, saying they would not negotiate a truce, instead engaging in verbal attacks and demanding the other's surrender. Still, both have powerful foreign backers, making them potentially susceptible to mounting diplomatic pressure.
Since fighting erupted on Saturday, 97 civilians have been killed and hundreds have been wounded, said the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate, a pro-democracy group monitoring casualties.
There has been no official word on the number of fighters killed.
Footage posted online Monday purported to show RSF barracks in Omdurman. The bodies of dozens of men in camouflage uniforms were seen sprawled on beds and the floor of a medical ward and in a sandy outdoor area.
The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed independently, but they surfaced after the military said it has targeted RSF bases with airstrikes. Mohmed al-Mokhtar al-Nour, an RSF adviser, told the Al Jazeera satellite network Sunday that RSF forces have withdrawn from the camp.
The chaotic scenes of fighting with tanks, truck-mounted machine guns, artillery and warplanes in densely populated areas of the capital are unprecedented. Sudan has a long history of civil strife, but much of that has taken place in remote tribal areas, far from Khartoum.
Fighting also spread to the war-wrecked western Darfur region, and areas of northern and eastern Sudan, near the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia.
The violence erupted during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which ends later this week and is capped by the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday.
The battles created more hardships for Sudan where about 16 million people, or one-third of the population, depend on humanitarian assistance.
Over the weekend, the World Food Program suspended operations in Sudan after three employees were killed in the western Darfur region. On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross also said it was halting its work because of the conflict, with the exception of a refugee camp in the southeast.
On Sunday, the warring sides agreed to a three-hour pause in fighting to allow civilians to stock up on necessities. Compliance was spotty, and there were reports of casualties during the humanitarian pause. Volker Perthes, the U.N. envoy for Sudan, called out the breaches Monday and urged both sides to “ensure the protection of all civilians."
Koko, the head of the tea vendors' union, said Burhan and Dagalo must stop fighting and withdraw troops from residential areas. “We, the people, want to live in peace,” she said. "We want security.”
Top diplomats urged the sides to stop fighting, including the U.S. secretary of state, the U.N. secretary-general, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission. The U.N. Security Council was to discuss the developments in Sudan later on Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed his call for a truce and a return to negotiations during a meeting of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in Japan on Monday.
“People in Sudan want the military back in the barracks," he said. "They want democracy. They want the civilian-led government, Sudan needs to return to that path.”
The fighting also spread to the war-wrecked western Darfur region, and areas of northern and eastern Sudan, near the borders with Egypt and Ethiopia.
In recent months, negotiations had been under way to get back on a path to democracy. Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups.
However, the deal was vague on key points of dispute, including how the RSF would be integrated into the armed force and who would have final control. The signing of the deal was put off repeatedly, amid rising tensions between Burhan and Dagalo.
The fighting marks a deadly setback for Sudan, a resource-rich nation strategically located at the crossroads of Africa and the Arab world. Only four years ago, Sudan inspired hope after a popular uprising helped depose long-time autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.
At least 42 people reported killed by rebels in Congo's east
A rebel group in eastern Congo's Ituri province killed at least 42 people Friday, according to a civil society organization.
Three towns in Djugu territory were attacked by the CODECO militia group, said Dieudonne Lossa, the president of the organization in Banyari Kilo, the area where the attacks took place.
"They burned down several homes. There are also seven people wounded who have not been assisted yet,” Lossa said.
The army confirmed the attack to local media Friday and said it was searching for the perpetrators.
Fighting between CODECO, a loose association of various ethnic Lendu militia groups, and Zaire, a mainly ethnic Hema self-defense group, has been ongoing since 2017 but worsened recently.
CODECO fighters killed at least 32 civilians in February, local officials said. In December, the United Nations said the insurgent group was expanding its areas of control, attacking civilians and members of Congo’s military, and taxing communities in the areas that it holds.
The killings come amid surging violence across eastern Congo, where conflict has simmered for decades. The region has more than 120 armed groups, most fighting for land and control of mines with valuable minerals, and some trying to protect their communities.
At least 22 people killed by rebels in eastern Congo: Mayor
At least 22 civilians were killed by extremist rebels in eastern Congo - the group's second large-scale deadly attack of the week, local authorities said Saturday.
Fighters with the Allied Democratic Forces — which has ties to the Islamic State group — attacked people in Beni territory in North Kivu province late Friday evening, said Nicolas Kambale, the mayor of Oicha commune where the attacks occurred.
“The enemy killed them savagely and as we speak we have at least 22 civilians killed who are already in the morgue,” Kambale said Saturday.
Violence has been simmering in eastern Congo for decades where some 120 armed groups have been fighting over land, resources, power and some to defend their communities. Attacks by rebel groups like ADF have increased recently. Since April last year, ADF attacks have killed at least 370 civilians and abducted several hundred more, including a significant number of children, according to the United Nations.
The group, which originally operated in North Kivu province, has spread to neighboring Ituri province, where more than 144,000 people have been displaced between January and February, according to the U.N. Efforts by Congo’s army and Ugandan forces to push them back have yielded little results.
Friday's attack came days after ADF killed more than 30 civilians, including women and children, between the Irumu and Mambasa territories in Ituri.
A spokesman for Congo's army in Beni, Capt. Antony Mwalushayi, said the attack Friday was in retaliation for large-scale offensives that the military has been conducting in the area.