Residents of the Sudanese capital say parts of Khartoum feel like ghost towns, a stark contrast to the joyous atmosphere common during the Islamic holiday of Eid.
At least 400 people have been killed after weeks of fighting between the two factions of the country’s military leadership. Eyewitnesses said gunfire continued in Khartoum. It means that the three-day ceasefire announced by the United Nations and the United States has failed.
Two attempts at a truce failed. Diplomatic pressure is being stepped up to end the fighting – with numerous countries and international bodies calling for an immediate ceasefire and offering to mediate. At its heart, this is a power struggle between two powerful military men over the roadmap for returning the country to civilian rule.
As part of that plan the country’s current military government – made up of the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo – were supposed to merge their forces. But the RSF has resisted this change, and began to mobilise its troops which escalated into full-blown fighting between the two sides on Saturday.
The UN has warned that between 10,000 and 20,000 people – mostly women and children – have fled Sudan, to seek safety in neighbouring Chad. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday appealed to the warring military leaders separately to join a ceasefire at least until Sunday – warning of the risk to civilians as well as humanitarian and diplomatic workers.
A Sudanese army statement said Gen Burhan had received calls from the Turkish, South Sudanese and Ethiopian leaders, as well as Mr Blinken and the Saudi and Qatari foreign ministers. People were seen fleeing Khartoum on Thursday The two men at the centre of the crisis – Gen Burhan and Mr Hemedti – both served under the previous president, Omar al-Bashir, until they turned on him in 2019, after months of pro-democracy protests.
The two generals fighting over Sudan’s future BBC reporter: ‘I’m drinking water from the Nile’ They have large numbers of troops at their disposal. Gen Burhan has the regular military – around 120,000 strong – while the RSF has as many as 150,000, with a fearsome reputation for violence. They were part of a transitional government paving the way for democratic government.
However, in 2021 General Burkhan staged a military coup and put all of this on hold. There are also economic benefits, especially gold. It is America’s largest export, and Mr. Hemedty’s family has a big stake in it. It is also strategically important. A lot of gold goes to the United Arab Emirates.
The Russian Wagner Group, which has fighter jets in Ukraine, also has lucrative interests in the mining industry, which is very beneficial to the Kremlin. Sudan is the third largest country in Africa. What happens there matters to our neighbors and to the world. Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and many other countries are vying for influence. And we watch anxiously to see if a civil war breaks out.
