Satellite image shows incinerated passenger planes at Khartoum International Airport in Khartoum, Sudan April 16, 2023, in this handout image. Courtesy of Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT. MUST NO OBSCURE LOGO
As the power struggle continues to rage in the North African nation, Sudanese army pounded paramilitary bases with air strikes on Sunday, news agency Reuters reported citing witnesses. Sudan’s army appeared to have gained the upper hand. The latest report stated that the death toll climbed to 97, including UN workers.
The deadly clashes between the army and the main paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) escalated in the past few days, with the fighting erupting on Saturday.
The army units loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s transitional governing Sovereign Council clashed with RSF, which is led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who is deputy head of the council.
The UN mission in Sudan said Burhan and Hemedti agreed to a three-hour pause in fighting in order to allow humanitarian evacuations proposed by the United Nations.
The fighting was expected to de-escalate, but the deal was widely ignored by both sides after a brief period of relative calm.
The news agency cited residents, who reported the boom of artillery and roar of warplanes in the Kafouri district of Bahri, which has an RSF base.
Eyewitnesses also told the news agency that the army was renewing air strikes on RSF bases in Omdurman, the Kafouri and Sharg El-Nil districts of adjacent Bahri.
Rising tensions over the RSF’s incorporation into the military were the cause of the fighting. The signature of an international agreement with political parties on a transition to democracy following a military coup in 2021 has been postponed due to disagreement on the timeline for that.
The clashes drew global condemnation as the United States, China, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Nations, European Union and African Union appealed for an immediate end to the hostilities.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken consulted with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and declared on Saturday that all parties involved in the conflict in Sudan must immediately and unconditionally halt hostilities.
