Explosions rocked Khartoum on Tuesday on the fourth day of the conflict in Sudan, where the situation remains chaotic, despite growing international calls for a halt to the hostilities that have already left nearly 200 people dead.
In the sky of the capital, the planes of the army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, de facto leader of the country since the coup of 2021, are trying to overcome the intense fire of the armored paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, his second in command for the coup, who became his sworn enemy since Saturday.
Despite calls from the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Japan, the UN, and the United States “to put an immediate end to the violence”, the fighting continues. Men in fatigues and sometimes turbaned like the nomads of Darfur reign terror in Sudan.
On Tuesday, General Daglo announced on Twitter that he had approved “a 24-hour ceasefire”, “a statement by the rebellion to conceal its imminent defeat”, the army immediately denounced in a denial posted on Facebook.
The inhabitants remain locked in their homes without electricity or running water and see their food stocks melting. And the few grocery stores that are open warn that they will not last much longer without restocking.
In a country where hunger affects more than one in three people, aid workers and diplomats say they can no longer work. Three employees of the World Food Program (WFP) were killed and stocks of aid were looted in Darfur (west). On Monday, a U.S. diplomatic convoy was shot at and the European Union ambassador was “attacked in his residence” in Khartoum.
Some countries, including Japan and Germany, are planning to repatriate their nationals.