Sudanese in the capital of Khartoum and the neighboring city of Omdurman reported sporadic clashes early Wednesday between the military and a rival paramilitary force but said the intensity of fighting had dwindled on the second day of a three-day truce.
Many residents of the capital emerged from their homes to seek food and water, lining up at bakeries or grocery stores, witnesses said. Some inspected shops or homes that had been destroyed or looted during the fighting. Others joined the tens of thousands who have been streaming out of the city in recent days.
“There is a sense of calm in my area and neighborhoods,” said Mahasen Ali, a tea vendor who lives in Khartoum’s southern neighborhood of May. “But all are afraid of what’s next.” She said that despite the relative lull, the sound of gunfire and explosions could still be heard in the city.
Clashes were centered in more limited pockets of Khartoum and Omdurman, residents said, mainly around the military’s headquarters and the Republican Palace, the seat of power. An exchange of fire rattled the upscale Kafouri neighbhorhood, where many fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are deployed.
“There is a sense of calm in my area and neighborhoods,” said Mahasen Ali, a tea vendor who lives in Khartoum’s southern neighborhood of May. “But all are afraid of what’s next.” She said that despite the relative lull, the sound of gunfire and explosions could still be heard in the city.
Clashes were centered in more limited pockets of Khartoum and Omdurman, residents said, mainly around the military’s headquarters and the Republican Palace, the seat of power. An exchange of fire rattled the upscale Kafouri neighbhorhood, where many fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are deployed.
Also on Wednesday, the military said Sudan’s former autocratic ruler Omar al-Bashir was being held in a military-run hospital, giving its first official statement on his location since the fighting erupted. An attack on the prison where al-Bashir and many of his former officials had been held, raised questions over his whereabout and allegations he was freed.
n a statement, the military said al-Bashir, former Defense Minister Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein and other former officials had been moved to the military-run Aliyaa hospital before clashes broke out across the country. Al-Bashir was ousted in 2019 amid a popular uprising. Both al-Bashir and Hussien are wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes related to Darfur conflict.
The relative reduction of fighting Wednesday was a rare moment of easing for the millions of Sudanese who have been caught in the crossfire ever since the forces of the country’s two top generals went to war with each other on April 15. The fighting has pushed the population to a near breaking point, with food growing more difficult to obtain, electricity cut off across much of the capital and other cities and many hospitals shut down.
In a country where a third of the population of 46 million already needed humanitarian assistance, multiple aid agencies have had to suspend operations. The U.N. refugee agency said it was gearing up for potentially tens of thousands of people fleeing into neighboring countries.
Still, it was not clear how long the relative calm would last. A series of short cease-fires the past week have either failed outright or brought only intermittent lulls, enough for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of foreigners by air and land. The two generals, army chief Abdel Fattah Burhan and RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, have so far ignored calls for negotiations to end the crisis and have seemed determined to crush each other.
AP
