SUDAN’S MILITARY AND its paramilitary rival have each announced that they will abide by a 24-hour ceasefire, starting this evening, after a previous attempt at a truce failed a day earlier.
Residents reported that sporadic gunfire and explosions could still be heard, pointing to the fragility of the efforts.
A similar pause last night fell apart almost immediately, and it was not clear if the new attempt would hold.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre today called for both sides to stand by the truce, “renounce violence and return to negotiations”.
She said the country’s two top generals, whose forces have turned the capital into a war zone for the past five days “are responsible for ensuring the protections of civilians and non-combatants”.
Throughout today, residents of multiple neighbourhoods in Khartoum told The Associated Press they could see hundreds of people, including women and children, leaving their homes, carrying luggage, some leaving by foot, others crowding into vehicles.
Residents had been desperately holding out in hopes for a halt in the mayhem on their doorsteps, but with food and other supplies running low and no sign of respite, it appeared many had decided to risk making an escape.
“Khartoum has become a ghost city,” said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors’ Syndicate, who is still in the capital.
Nearly 300 people have been killed in the past five days, the UN health agency said, but the toll is likely higher, since many bodies have been left in the streets, unreachable because of clashes.
Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs had said it was closely monitoring the situation in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan where there are “ongoing military clashes”.
It added that the travel advice for Sudan has been upgraded to ‘Do Not Travel’.
Sources have said there are around 300 Irish citizens in the country.
“The advice to all Irish citizens in Sudan is to remain indoors and observe local restrictions,” the department told The Journal.
“Irish citizens are urgently asked to register with the Embassy of Ireland in Kenya which is accredited to Sudan, and can do so at https://www.dfa.ie/travel/
“Citizens should follow the Embassy of Ireland in Kenya on Twitter (@IrlEmbKenya) for updated advice.”
If urgent, the Embassy’s out of hours consular assistance phone line can be contacted at +254 716 353 999, and the Department of Foreign Affairs can be contacted at +353 1 408 2000.
Residents said the military was pounding positions of the opposing Rapid Support Forces with air strikes since early today, while gunbattles continued to rage outside the main military headquarters in central Khartoum, which the RSF has tried repeatedly to capture.
At the nearby airport, another front line, palls of black smoke rose and a damaged aircraft was in flames, according to satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs PBC.
A high-rise in the city centre was on fire with burning debris falling from its top floors, according to footage by the Al Arabiya news network.
Fierce clashes were also reported around the state television building across the Nile River in the adjacent city Omdurman.
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 neighbourhoods.
The result has been scenes of chaos.
Residents have spoken of armed men looting shops and attacking anyone found on the streets.
“They take whatever they can, and if you resist, they kill you,” said Mahasen Ali, a tea vendor.
She said many in her south Khartoum neighbourhood have left their homes to take refuge in open areas, hoping to be safe from shelling hitting buildings.
Others fled the city to stay with relatives elsewhere, she said.
A 24-hour ceasefire was to have been in effect from sundown on yesterday to sundown today.
It was the most concrete attempt yet to bring a pause that it was hoped could be expanded into a longer truce.
It came after US secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke separately by phone with the two rivals – the leader of the armed forces, General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
Egypt, which backs the Sudanese military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have close ties to the RSF, have also been calling on all sides to stand down.
But fighting continued after the intended start of the truce and through the night.
Each side blamed the other for the failure.
Aid agencies and foreigners, including diplomats, have also been trapped in the fighting.
The aid group Doctors Without Borders, or MSF after its French name, said in a tweet that its compound in Nyala in the western Darfur region had been raided by armed men who stole vehicles and office equipment and looted a warehouse storing medical supplies.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said its office in Niyala was also looted, with one vehicle taken.
Darfur, which has been the scene of heavy fighting since the weekend, is a stronghold of the RSF, where the force had its origins among the Janjaweed militias, accused of atrocities during the long conflict there.
German media, including the DPA news agency, reported that three A400M transport planes were dispatched to evacuate German citizens from Khartoum, but turned around today due to security concerns in Khartoum.
Japan said it was preparing to send military aircraft to evacuate about 60 Japanese nationals.
In Brussels, Dana Spinant, a deputy spokesperson for the European Commission, confirmed reports that a senior EU official had been shot and wounded in Sudan.
Spinant did not provide details.
The New York Times identified the official as Wim Fransen, a Belgian national.
The report said Fransen was receiving medical treatment for serious injuries.
It said he had gone missing on Sunday evening and that his colleagues tracked him down yesterday.
Another spokeswoman, Nabila Massrali, said the EU office in Khartoum is still operating and the delegation is not being evacuated.
She also confirmed that Irish diplomat and EU ambassador to Sudan Aidan O’Hara, who was assaulted when gunmen broke into his residence several days ago, is back at work.
Hospitals in Khartoum are running dangerously low on medical supplies, often operating without power and clean water, the ICRC said in a statement.
Dozens of healthcare facilities in Khartoum and around the country have stopped functioning because they are close to clashes, the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate said today.
At least nine hospitals were bombed, it said.
“Our urgent priority is to get medical assistance to hospitals and try to make repairs to their water and power lines so they can treat the wounded,” said Patrick Youssef, the ICRC’s Africa regional director.
But fighting has made it impossible to reach the facilities.
The UN’s World Health Organisation said today at least 296 people have been killed and more than 3,000 wounded since fighting began, without offering a breakdown of civilians and combatants killed.
The Doctors’ Syndicate, which monitors casualties, said yesterday that at least 174 civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded.
The conflict between the military and the RSF has once again derailed Sudan’s transition to democratic rule after decades of dictatorship and civil war.
A popular uprising four years ago helped depose long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
But Gen Burhan and Gen Dagalo joined to carry out a 2021 coup.
Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses, and their forces have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.
Under international pressure, Gen Burhan and Gen Dagalo recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups.
But the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command.
Contains reporting by Eoghan Dalton and Niall O’Connor
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