The Sudanese army launched airstrikes on paramilitaries in the capital Khartoum on Thursday, and deadly fighting broke out in Darfur as the crisis entered its 13th day despite a ceasefire mediated by the United States.
Despite the US-brokered truce that went into effect on Tuesday, combat has persisted, according to witnesses, with jets patrolling the skies over the northern suburbs of the capital as fighters on the ground have traded artillery and heavy machine gun fire.
To extend the three-day ceasefire that ends on Friday, the army announced late on Wednesday that it had accepted to negotiate in Juba, the capital of the neighboring South Sudan, “at the initiative of IGAD,” the East African regional group.
It is still unknown how the RSF would react to the suggestion.
Since violence between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and the Sudanese regular army under the command of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan erupted on April 15, there have been numerous peace attempts.
According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the US is collaborating with Sudan’s warring generals to extend a tenuous ceasefire that he helped broker.
Blinken said he expected to say more “in the coming hours” on the situation in Sudan, where the army has renewed air strikes on rival paramilitaries in the capital Khartoum even before the truce expires at midnight (2200 GMT).
“We are very actively working to extend the ceasefire,” Blinken told reporters.
“We’ve had a 72-hour ceasefire, which like most ceasefires is imperfect but nonetheless has reduced violence. And that’s obviously created somewhat better conditions for people in Sudan,” he said.
According to Blinken, the United States is also striving to create a more dependable route for foreigners leaving Sudan.
According to data from the health ministry, at least 512 people have died and 4,193 have been injured in the violence; however, the actual death toll is very certainly significantly higher.
Despite the truce, at least eight civilians were reportedly murdered on Wednesday in Khartoum alone, according to the doctors’ union.
The union reported on Thursday that more over two-thirds of the nation’s hospitals were inoperable, including 14 that had been involved in strikes.
Fighting has erupted in the provinces beyond the capital, particularly in Darfur’s war-torn western region.
Witnesses claimed that fighting between the army and the RSF continued in the West Darfur city Geneina for a second day in a row and that civilians were spotted fleeing to the neighboring border with Chad.
“We are locked up at home and too afraid to go out so we can’t assess the scale of the damage,” said a resident who asked to remain anonymous for his safety.
“The heavy fighting began from 24 April,” he said, confirming severe damage to hospitals and public buildings and looting across the city.
On Wednesday, the United Nations humanitarian agency had reported killings, looting and arson in Geneina.
“An estimated 50,000 acutely malnourished children have had nutrition support disrupted due to the fighting,” it added in a statement.
The heavy fighting has trapped many civilians in their homes, where they have endured severe shortages of food, water and electricity. Communications have been sporadically disrupted.
The UN has warned that as many as 270,000 people could flee into Sudan’s poorer neighbors South Sudan and Chad.
Other Sudanese have sought refuge in Egypt to the north and Ethiopia to the east, but both entail long and potentially dangerous journeys overland.