The army and paramilitaries who are vying for power in Sudan accused each other on Thursday of breaking a truce negotiated by American and Saudi mediators.
At the very moment of the entry into force Monday evening of a new ceasefire promised for a week, residents reported to AFP fighting, artillery fire and air raids in Khartoum.
These violations have not stopped since, although several residents told AFP that they were able to go out, mainly to buy food, drinks, and to see a doctor.
In the capital of more than five million people, most families are holed up in their homes for fear of fighting, often without running water or electricity and with supplies of food and cash soon depleted.
During the night of Wednesday to Thursday, the paramilitaries of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo's Rapid Support Forces (FSR) accused their enemy, the army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane.
"They launched a series of attacks", and "our forces repelled them", even shooting down "a MiG fighter plane", according to one of their press releases. On Thursday morning, the army replied that it had "countered armored attacks by the Rapid Support militias in total violation of the truce".
The Saudi and American mediators, they have been content to repeat since Wednesday that they transmitted to the representatives of the two belligerents "information showing that they had violated" the truce. These emissaries continue their discussions in Saudi Arabia.
On the third day of the entry into force of the ceasefire, no humanitarian corridor could be secured for the release of civilians and the delivery of humanitarian aid, according to humanitarian officials.
The war that broke out on April 15 left more than 1,800 dead, according to the NGO ACLED, more than a million displaced and more than 300,000 refugees, according to the UN.
As a result, more than 25 of the 45 million Sudanese now need humanitarian aid to survive, according to the UN.
25/05/2023 11:05:47 - Khartoum (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
