after truce expires, fighting resumes in Khartoum

2023-06-11 08:03:18

The army and paramilitaries at war in Sudan resumed fighting on Sunday morning, shortly after the expiration of yet another 24-hour ceasefire, negotiated the day before by Saudi mediators. This new truce has allowed the inhabitants of Khartoum to take advantage of a respite to get supplies or flee the capital.

Published on : 11/06/2023 – 10:03

The respite was short-lived in Sudan. The fighting resumed on Sunday, June 11, in Khartoum, shortly after the expiration of a 24-hour truce, the umpteenth since the start of the conflict between two rival generals, according to witnesses.

Residents of Khartoum were awakened by artillery fire and the sound of fighting in several districts of the capital, these witnesses told AFP.

The clashes resumed ten minutes after the end of the 24-hour truce brokered by Saudi mediators, which began at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) on Saturday.

The two rival parties had pledged to end violence across the country to allow “the arrival of humanitarian aid”, according to the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

Heavy artillery shelling was heard in Khartoum and Omdurman, on the outskirts of the capital, and firing with “various types of weapons” was reported in Al-Haya Street in southern Khartoum.

This new truce, generally respected according to witnesses, had allowed the inhabitants of Khartoum to take advantage of a respite to get supplies or flee the capital, which has been plagued for almost two months by an armed conflict which has led to a serious humanitarian crisis.

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The fighting is mainly in Khartoum and the vast Darfur region of western Sudan, where NGOs report a deteriorating humanitarian situation.

The conflict broke out on April 15 between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo.

Previous truces had generally been violated as soon as they came into effect.

The war has already claimed more than 1,800 lives, according to the organization ACLED, which specializes in collecting information in conflict zones, as well as two million displaced persons and refugees according to the UN.