Sudanese truce fails on 1st day
Residents trapped as battles continue
KHARTOUM, Sudan — Fighting raged in Sudan on Tuesday hours after an internationally brokered truce was supposed to have come into effect as forces loyal to dueling generals battled for key locations in the capital and accused each other of violating the cease-fire.
The humanitarian truce came after days of intense efforts by top diplomats on four continents and had raised hopes of sparing Africa’s third-largest country from civil war. But each side still appeared determined to vanquish the other, despite the suffering of millions of civilians trapped by the fighting.
Residents said they still heard gunfire and explosions in different parts of the capital, Khartoum, particularly around the military’s headquarters and the Republican Palace. They said few people had ventured out.
“The fighting remains underway,” Atiya Abdulla Atiya of the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate told The Associated Press. “We are hearing constant gunfire.”
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 gun battles outside. Residents say dead bodies in the streets are unreachable because of clashes, with the toll likely to be far higher than the 185 dead reported by the U.N. since fighting began Saturday.
The conflict between the armed forces, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has once again derailed Sudan’s transition to democratic rule after decades of dictatorship and civil war.
Pro-democracy groups and political parties had recently reached an agreement with the two generals — who jointly led a 2021 coup — but it was never signed and is now in tatters.
The RSF immediately accused the military of violating the cease-fire after it came into effect at 6 p.m. local time. The army said the “rebellious militia” continued its attacks around the military headquarters and launched a failed attack on a military base to the south.
The U.S. Embassy said late Tuesday that there has been “ongoing” fighting in Khartoum and surrounding areas, and advised Americans in Sudan to shelter in place. It said there were no immediate plans for a government-coordinated evacuation.
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 RSF, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters.
Blinken spoke by phone late Monday separately with both generals, seeking a 24-hour halt in fighting as a foundation for a longer truce and return to negotiations. 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.
Dagalo said in a series of tweets Tuesday that he had approved a 24-hour humanitarian truce after speaking to Blinken. The military initially said the coming hours would bring the “crushing defeat” of the RSF and only publicly committed to the truce after it began.
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.