Sudanese army, rivals announce another truce
Residents flee homes amid heavy fighting
KHARTOUM, Sudan — 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, as the military and its paramilitary rival made a new attempt at a 24-hour ceasefire after a failed truce the day before.
The new cease-fire attempt came as alarm was growing that millions of Sudanese were on the brink of disaster from the past five days of warfare between the country’s two most powerful generals.
The fighting grew less intense in the first hours after the cease-fire took effect at 6 p.m., with sporadic clashes continuing in the city center, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors’ Syndicate, who is still in the capital. But he said neither side has provided guarantees to his group to facilitate movement of health care workers and ambulances.
Desperate residents of the capital have been running out of food and other supplies as they sheltered in their homes from the gun battles, bombardment, and airstrikes on the streets outside. Hospitals have been damaged and forced to close or have been overwhelmed by wounded, with staff exhausted and medical supplies depleted. Increasingly, armed fighters have turned to looting shops and robbing anyone who dares step outside.
Nearly 300 people have been killed in the past five days, the UN health agency said, but the toll is likely higher because many bodies lie uncollected in the streets.
After the failure of Tuesday evening’s truce attempt, hundreds gave up on trying to hold out for calm and fled their homes throughout the day Wednesday, even as explosions and gunfire shook Khartoum and the adjacent city of Omdurman. Residents of multiple neighborhoods told the Associated Press they could see men, women, and children leaving with luggage, some on foot, others crowding into vehicles.
On Wednesday evening, the army and its rivals, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, separately announced that a new 24hour truce had begun. Prospects for the cease-fire were uncertain, however, as residents said they continued to hear sporadic shooting and explosions.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called for both sides to stand by a truce, “renounce violence and return to negotiations.” She said the army and the RSF “are responsible for ensuring the protections of civilians and non combatants.”
Until now, army chief General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and RSF commander General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo — former allies against Sudan’s pro-democracy movement — seem determined to crush each other in their struggle for power.
The explosion of violence between their forces, which began Saturday, has challenged international efforts to bring calm. Tuesday’s cease-fire attempt failed even after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to each general by phone and after pressure from their regional allies. Egypt, which backs the Sudanese military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have close ties to the RSF, have been calling on all sides to stand down.
Throughout the day Wednesday, the two sides battled around the main military headquarters in central Khartoum, which the RSF has tried repeatedly to capture, and the nearby airport. Residents said the military was pounding RSF positions with airstrikes.
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.
Residents say armed men, mostly in RSF uniforms, have raided homes, offices, and shops in neighborhoods across Khartoum.
Foreigners, including diplomats and aid workers, have also been trapped by the fighting.