According to Mohamed Al-Faki, one of the freed University students, the Sudanese military freed 89 students and staff members who had been imprisoned in the engineering department of Khartoum University since the start of the conflict on Saturday.
Online video showed students receiving assistance from uniformed soldiers as they crawled through a small opening in the outer wall of the campus.
One of the students was killed at the University of Khartoum after being struck by a stray gunshot amid ongoing violence in Sudan’s capital. According to a Facebook post made by one of his coworkers, the body was buried on campus after safe exit from the scene was not possible.
“We buried our friend after getting permission from his family and the university. We were going to get food for the rest of the students,” said law student Mosaab Sharif, who is sheltering in a building near the campus, in an interview with the BBC.
“There were three of us, and then he was hit in the chest. We couldn’t even help him. As we were burying our colleague, one of us was hit with a bullet in his hand.”
“Snipers have been targeting anyone with flashlights. That’s why no one is walking around wearing white clothes to be extra safe,” added Sharif. “We are scared of both sides, the military and the Rapid Support Forces, if they shoot in our direction.”
On Wednesday, the fifth day of fighting, the capital of Sudan was shaken by explosions and a lot of gunfire after an internationally mediated ceasefire immediately broke through. Thousands of citizens have fled the capital as a result of combat between the army and paramilitaries, which has claimed 300 lives, according to a UN toll.