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UK Ministry of Defence photo of the evacuation of British nationals earlier this week onto an awaiting RAF aircraft at Wadi Seidna Air Base in Khartoum, Sudan. PA

Fighting enters third week in Sudan despite new truce

Protesters gathered on O’Connell Street in Dublin today in solidarity with the people of Sudan.

LAST UPDATE | 29 Apr 2023

WARPLANES ON BOMBING raids drew heavy anti-aircraft fire over Khartoum on Saturday as fierce fighting between Sudan’s army and paramilitaries entered a third week, despite a renewed truce.

Sudan has plunged into chaos and lawlessness since the fighting erupted on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his number two Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Burhan and Daglo have agreed to multiple truces since the start of the conflict, but none has effectively taken hold, with each side blaming the other for breaching them.

The latest three-day ceasefire was agreed Thursday after mediation led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the United Nations aimed at securing a more lasting truce.

“We woke up once again to the sound of fighter jets and anti-aircraft weapons blasting all over our neighbourhood,” a witness in southern Khartoum told AFP.

Another witness said fighting had been ongoing since the early morning, especially around the state broadcaster’s headquarters in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman.

Residents across Khartoum — home to five million people — have largely sheltered at home despite supplies of food and water dwindling to dangerously low levels, and a lack of electricity.

Some managed to sneak out only during brief lulls in fighting to buy desperately needed supplies.

Evacuations

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs says that 163 Irish citizens and their families have been evacuated from Sudan and thanked international partners for their help with the evacuation.

It is maintaining contact with the Embassy in Nairobi and advising Irish citizens still in Sudan.

“Due to continued uncertainty about the duration of the current ceasefire, and the generally volatile situation in Sudan”, a spokesperson for the Department said, “we advise citizens, if they judge it safe to do so, to give serious consideration to evacuation options as they become available”.

“Evacuation operations will only continue for as long as the security situation in Sudan allows.” 

A protest took place on Dublin’s O’Connell Street this morning in solidarity with the people of Sudan.

261Protests For Sudan Protesters at a rally in Dublin to show support for the people of Sudan Leah Farrell / RollingNews Leah Farrell / RollingNews / RollingNews

Aseel Hassan Sakota from Mullingar told Newstalk that she will be in attendance to support the members of her family still trapped in Sudan.

“I still think and believe it’s really important to show our support for our people back home,” she said.

Sakota said she’s constantly wondering whether members of her family are still alive.

“Sudan is really in need of people to know what’s going on,” she said. “And for funds to be available and any services that would help.”

Trading blame 

As battles raged on the ground, the two rival generals took aim at each other in the media, with Burhan branding the RSF a militia that aims “to destroy Sudan”, in an interview with US-based TV channel Alhurra.

He also claimed “mercenaries” were pouring over the border from Chad, Central African Republic and Niger to exploit the chaos.

Daglo denounced the army chief in an interview with the BBC, saying he was “not trustworthy” and a “traitor”.

The clashes have so far killed at least 512 people and wounded 4,193, according to the health ministry, with the death toll feared to be much higher.

Some 75,000 have been internally displaced by the fighting in Khartoum and the states of Blue Nile, North Kordofan, as well as the restive western region of Darfur, the UN said.

Tens of thousands of Sudanese have fled into neighbouring countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Chad and South Sudan, while foreign countries have carried out mass evacuations of their nationals.

Britain said it would end evacuation flights for its citizens and their relatives on Saturday, after airlifting more than 1,500 people this week.

The United Nations said on Friday that its last international staff had been evacuated from Darfur.

The World Food Programme has said the violence could plunge millions more into hunger in a country where 15 million people – one-third of the population — already need aid to stave off famine. 

‘Alarming’ conditions in Darfur 

In West Darfur state, at least 96 people were reported to have been killed in the city of Geneina since Monday, according to UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani.

The UN described the situation in Darfur as “alarming” while Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said there were reports of widespread looting, destruction, and burning of property, including at camps for displaced people.

“The current fighting has forced us to stop almost all of our activities in West Darfur,” said Sylvain Perron, MSF’s deputy operations manager for Sudan.

“We are incredibly worried about the impact this violence is having on people who have already lived through waves of violence in the previous years.”

Darfur is still reeling from its devastating 2003 war, when then hardline president Omar al-Bashir unleashed the Janjaweed militia, mainly recruited from Arab pastoralist tribes, to crush ethnic minority rebels.

The notorious Janjaweed — accused by rights groups of committing atrocities in Darfur — later evolved into the RSF, which was formally created in 2013.

The scorched-earth campaign left at least 300,000 people dead and close to 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures, and saw Bashir charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by the International Criminal Court.

Burhan and Daglo — commonly known as Hemeti — seized power in a 2021 coup that derailed Sudan’s transition to democracy, established after Bashir was ousted following mass protests in 2019.

But the two generals later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

© Agence France-Presse

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Jan 16th 2013, 9:05 AM

    Did Enda ask merkel what he is to say

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    Mute June Tobin Maher
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    Jan 16th 2013, 9:26 AM

    I replied to another readers comment on The Journal yesterday. It was with regard to Gerry Adams being referred to by CNN as a former Paramilitary leader for the IRA. My comment/reply went along the lines of pointing out that in my opinion, you are only a terrorist until you win the war and how most world leaders reached their position by non peaceful means. The original comment I replied to had mentioned how Nelson Mandella would not have been referred to as a former terrorist. There was nothing incendiary or offensive about my comment/reply, particularly when compared to some of the comments I have read on here, yet my comment was deleted. I was just wondering, why?

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    Mute Valerie O' Regan
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    Jan 16th 2013, 9:00 AM

    love it.. #HorseMeat number 1 news story.

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    Mute Patrico Floodaldinio
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    Jan 16th 2013, 9:07 AM

    Sorry, there are not already background checks run on those wishing to buy guns?!

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    Mute Felicity Scott
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    Jan 16th 2013, 9:13 AM

    Until now gun sales were regulated on a state level and some states were much more stringent than others.

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    Mute Caroline Dimascio
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    Jan 16th 2013, 10:13 AM

    The guns are not pulling their own triggers, its the mentality behind them. Take away the guns and these people will find something else. Anyway legal or not if you want one apparently its not hard to get one. Further investigation should be into the amount of psychotic drugs these children are on ( and the recognised side effects of taking these legal drugs) before they do these things, that is very surprising!

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    Mute Becky Mary Eaton
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    Jan 16th 2013, 9:10 AM

    Good morning Michelle. I think the world is a wicked sad place to live in

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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Jan 16th 2013, 9:14 AM

    Good morning Becky, sorry to have made your morning so sad!

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    Mute Becky Mary Eaton
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    Jan 16th 2013, 9:28 AM

    Not your fault Michelle it’s just the world we live in.

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    Mute bunny boiler
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    Jan 16th 2013, 9:38 AM

    Do something positive with your day then to make up for it.

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    Mute Becky Mary Eaton
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    Jan 16th 2013, 1:29 PM

    Good idea and I know what I am going to do :-)

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    Mute Bren Dan
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    Jan 16th 2013, 10:31 AM

    what about gun control in the middle east Obama ?. More like it.

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