Ongoing fighting since mid-April has caused hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries, the disruption of relief supplies, the flight of 100,000 internally displaced persons and the transformation of residential areas of Khartoum into fields of battle.
Othman Hassan, 48, from a southern neighborhood on the outskirts of Khartoum, said: “For 4 days, the electricity has been cut off and we live in difficult conditions. We are victims of a war to which we are not a party, and no one cares about the citizen.”
Factories, banks and shops were looted or vandalized across Khartoum, and electricity and water supplies were cut off. Residents reported sharp price increases and commodity shortages.
Entire neighborhoods have been emptied of their inhabitants, who fear for their homes. Aya al-Taher said she and her family fled to the northern outskirts of the capital after bullets hit the roof of their house.
She added that she plans to go home every day, even just to get more basic items, but the situation is not completely safe.
The World Health Organization said at least 551 civilians have been killed and 4,926 injured, according to data from Sudan, but the true number is likely much higher due to difficulty accessing medical facilities.
“contempt for the lives” of civilians
The Preliminary Committee of the Sudanese Medical Association said one of the country’s main maternity wards, Dayat Hospital in the city of Omdurman, adjacent to Khartoum, and the central warehouse of medical supplies were looted.
He said a total of 17 hospitals have been damaged by the fighting and 20 have been forcibly evacuated since the violence began. She added that 60 out of 88 hospitals in Khartoum are out of service and many remaining hospitals are not providing their full services.
“Both warring parties show disregard for civilian lives by using inaccurate weapons in populated urban areas,” Mohamed Othman, Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a report.
The number of displaced rises to almost a million
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees expects the displacement of 860,000 people from Sudan, and the Commission has called on governments to improve the treatment of civilians fleeing Sudan.
“We advise governments not to send people back to Sudan,” said Elizabeth Tan, UNHCR’s director of international protection.
UNHCR said more than 56,000 people have entered Egypt through the Qastal and Arqin crossings since Thursday, including at least 52,500 Sudanese, according to Egyptian Foreign Ministry figures.
“The humanitarian situation in and around Sudan is tragic. There is a shortage of food, water and fuel, and difficult access to transport, communications and electricity, as well as a sharp rise in commodity prices,” Raouf said. Mazo, Deputy High Commissioner for Operations at UNHCR.
Jeddah talks
On Friday evening, the Sudanese army announced that it had sent negotiators to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to discuss a ceasefire. The army said in a statement posted on its Facebook page: “As part of the Saudi-American initiative that has been put forward since the beginning of the crisis, a delegation of the Sudanese Armed Forces left Friday evening for Jeddah to discuss the details of the truce which is being renewed.Friday’s document showed that several countries led by Britain, the United States, Germany and Norway are calling for an urgent meeting of the Council of rights panel on the crisis in Sudan next week. Although ceasefires have been declared on several occasions, the two sides appeared to be fighting over territory ahead of the proposed talks.
Read the Latest World News Today on The Eastern Herald.
