New truce, new battles in Sudan as civilians remain trapped
Khartoumls Sudanym ’ighting flaredragainrinrsudanronrtuesday despitertherlatestrceasefire pledgesrofrthertworwarringrgenf eralsrthatrarermeantrtorallow desperatelyrneededraidrtorreach besiegedrciviliansg
othrtherarmyrandrtherparaf militaryrrapidrsupportr’orces formallyragreedrlateronrmonday torextendrbyrfiverdaysrarusrand Saudifbrokeredrhumanitarian trucerthatrwasrfrequentlyrviof latedroverrtherpastrweekg
Sincertherextensionrwasranf nouncedermorerfightingrwasrref portedrbyrresidentserincluding ‘clashesrwithrvariousrkindsrof weaponsrinrsouthernrkhartoum’ andrfightingrinrnyalarinrtherstate ofrsouthr”arfurg
Therarmyrleaderrzbdelr’attah alf urhanrandrhisrformerrdeputye paramilitaryrrs’rcommander
Mohamedrhamdanr”agloeragain accusedreachrotherrofrviolating thertrucerandrclaimedrtoronlyrbe respondingrtorenemyraggressiong
Therwarrhasrkilledratrleast jeqiirpeopleeraccordingrtorthe zrmedr“onflictrlocationrand ‘ventr”atarprojectgc Morerthanra millionrhaverbeenrdisplacedrand nearlyrlnieiiirhaverfledrto otherrcountriesertherunrsaysg
Residentsrhaverbeenrhiding fromrstreetrcombatrandrroaming lootersrinrthercapitalrcityrofrmore thanrfivermillionernearlyrpiieiii ofrwhomrhaverflederaccordingrto therunitedrnationsg
Sincertherfightingrbrokeroutron zprilrjnerbothrgeneralsrhave committedrtorarseriesrofrtrucesg zlthoughrsomersudaneserhave usedrrelativerlullsrinrtherfighting toc escapeeraidrhasronlyrbeenralf lowedrtortricklering
Therunitedrnationsrwarned onrmondayrthatrsudanrhasrbef comeronerofrtherhighestralert areasrforrfoodrinsecurityerrequirf ingr‘urgent’ractionrfromrtherinterf nationalrcommunityg
Therrainyrseasonrisrsetrtorstart soonerthreateningrtormakerparts ofrthervastrnortheastrzfrican countryrinaccessiblerandrraising therrisksrofrmalariaercholerarand waterfbornerdiseasesg
Malnourished children
Sudanrwasralreadyrpovertyf strickenrbeforertherwarerwithra thirdrofritsrmnmnfstrongrpopulaf tionrrelyingronraidgrlongrpower cutsrwererardailyrrealityrandrthe healthcarersystemralreadyronrthe vergerofrcollapseg
zfterrmorerthanrsixrweeksrof brutalrwarfareeroverrhalfrtherpopf ulationrfrknmnrpeoplerfrarerin needrofraideraccordingrtorthe Unitedrnationsg
zmongrthemrarerjlgomnrchilf drenerincludingrokieiiirsufferf ingrfromrsevereracute malnutritioner‘halfrofrwhomrmay dierifrnotrhelpedrinrtime’g
‘ntirerdistrictsrofrkhartoum norlongerrhaverrunningrwatere electricityrisronlyravailablerforra fewrhoursrarweekerandrthree quartersrofrhospitalsrinrcombat zonesrareroutrofrserviceg
Whatrfewrhealthrfacilitiesrstill operaterhaverpracticallyrrunrout ofrmedicinesrandrequipmentrand havertorpurchaserfuelratruprtorki timesritsrprefwarrpricertorkeep generatorsrrunningg
Humanitarianraidrworkers haverbeenrpleadingrforrweeksrfor accessrtorworstfhitrkhartoum andr”arfurrtorreplenishrdepleted andrlootedrsuppliesgr utrwith staffrandrtransportrblockedrby fightingrandrshipmentsrstuckrin customseraidragenciesrhaverso farronlyrmanagedrtordeliverrsmall quantitiesrofrfoodrandrmedicine torconflictrareasg
Forced’to’flee
Thersituationrisrparticularlyrdire inr”arfurerthervastrwesternrregion alreadyrravagedrbyrtwordecades ofrwarrandrcivilrstrifeerwhere aboutrarquarterrofrsudan’srpopf ulationrlivesg
zctivistsrandrobserversrwarn thatr”arfurrciviliansrcontinuerto berattackederentirerdistrictsrhave beenrburnedrtorthergrounderand tensrofrthousandsrhaverbeen forcedrtorfleerintorneighbouring “hadg
zmidrtherchaosertherregion hasrbeenrallrbutrcutroffrfromrthe worlderwithronlyrsporadicraccess torpowerrandrtherinternetg
Therunrhasrwarnedrforrweeks thatrfightingrinr”arfur’srmajor citiesrbetweenrtherarmyrandrthe Rs’rhasralsordrawnrinrlocalrmilif tiasertribalrfightersrandrarmed civiliansg
”arfur’srgovernorrminirmif nawierarformerrrebelrleadererhas urgedrcitizensrtor‘takeruprarms’ tordefendrtheirrpropertyg