KHARTOUM: Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, was engulfed in air strikes and artillery exchanges on Saturday while armed men ransacked the Qatari embassy amidst an ongoing power struggle between the country’s warring generals.
Despite international calls for a humanitarian truce, residents of Khartoum reported heavy fighting throughout the day. Witnesses confirmed that one of the targeted sites was the area around the state television building in Omdurman, Khartoum’s sister city.
The conflict, which erupted on April 15, has intensified between regular army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy turned rival, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The power struggle has resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives, predominantly civilians, and displaced over one million people. The deteriorating situation in Africa’s third-largest country has prompted warnings from the United Nations about the humanitarian crisis.
Even before the outbreak of war, one in three Sudanese citizens relied on aid for survival. On Friday, Burhan dismissed Daglo from his position and appointed former rebel leader Malik Agar as the vice president of the ruling Sovereign Council, while also appointing three allies to key military positions.
Agar, who signed a peace agreement with the Khartoum authorities in 2020, expressed his determination to end the war and advocate for negotiations, emphasizing the need for a professional and unified army to restore stability in Sudan.
The integration of the RSF into the regular armed forces has been a contentious issue between Daglo and Burhan. Known for its mobility but also its lack of discipline, the RSF has been implicated in various incidents of break-ins, looting, and attacks on diplomatic missions and aid organization offices.
In the latest attack on diplomatic missions, Qatar’s embassy was stormed and vandalized, drawing strong condemnation from Doha. The embassy staff had been previously evacuated, and no diplomats or embassy personnel were harmed. Qatar called for an immediate cessation of the fighting, urging maximum restraint and the protection of civilians.
Sudan ceasefire attempts fail
Although the feuding generals in Sudan were urged to halt the fighting at an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia on Friday, previous attempts to establish a ceasefire have failed. Representatives from both sides have been engaged in talks in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan stated that the focus of the discussions was to reach a truce that would allow Sudanese civilians to find respite from the violence. While the main conflict unfolds in Khartoum, the violence has also spread to the war-torn western region of Darfur, where the RSF originated.
In Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, fighting since Thursday has claimed the lives of 22 people and forced civilians to flee to safer areas as shells rain down on their homes, according to the Darfur bar association.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths announced on Friday an allocation of $22 million in emergency funds to assist Sudanese fleeing the violence. The funds will support relief efforts in Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt, and South Sudan, where Sudanese refugees have sought shelter. The United States has pledged $103 million to support displaced individuals in Sudan and neighboring countries.
