Clashes between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensified on Sunday, as the war in the nation’s capital and western regions entered its 12th week with no attempts in sight to bring a peaceful end to the conflict.
Air and artillery strikes, as well as small arms fire, could be heard, particularly in the city of Omdurman, as well as in the capital, Khartoum, as the conflict deepens a humanitarian crisis and threatens to draw in other regional interests.
The RSF said it brought down an army warplane and a drone in Bahri, in statements to which the army did not immediately respond.
Photo: AFP
“We’re terrified, every day the strikes are getting worse,” 25-year-old Nahid Salah, living in northern Omdurman, said by telephone.
The RSF has dominated the capital on the ground, and has been accused of looting and occupying houses, while the army has focused on air and artillery strikes.
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan last week called on young men to join the fight against the RSF and on Sunday the army posted photographs it said were of new recruits.
The Sudanese Doctors Union on Saturday accused the RSF of raiding Shuhada hospital, one of the few still operating in the nation, and killing a staff member.
The RSF denied the accusation.
The war has also hit cities in the western Kordofan and Darfur regions, in particular the westernmost city of El Geneina, where the RSF and Arab militias have been accused of ethnic cleansing.
The Combating Violence Against Women Unit, a government agency, on Saturday said that it had recorded 88 cases of sexual assault, which it said was a fraction of the likely real total, in Khartoum, El Geneina and Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, with victims in most cases accusing the RSF.
Talks hosted in Jeddah and sponsored by the US and Saudi Arabia were suspended last month, while a mediation attempt by East African nations was criticized by the army as it accused Kenya of bias.
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