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Gunfire and heavy artillery fire persisted Saturday in parts of Sudan’s capital Khartoum, residents said, despite the extension of a cease-fire between the country’s two top generals, whose battle for power has killed hundreds and sent thousands fleeing for their lives.
The civilian death toll jumped Saturday to 411 people, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, which monitors casualties. The fighting has wounded another 2,023 civilians so far, the group added. In the city of Genena, the provincial capital of war-ravaged West Darfur, intensified violence has killed 89 people. Fighters have moved into homes and taken over stores and hospitals as they battle in the densely populated streets, the syndicate said.
Khartoum, a city of some 5 million people, has been transformed into a front line in the grinding conflict between Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, the commander of Sudan’s military, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, which has dashed once-euphoric hopes of Sudan’s democratic transition.
Foreign countries continued to evacuate diplomatic staff and nationals while thousands of Sudanese fled across borders. Britain said it was ending its evacuation flights Saturday, after demand for spots on the planes had declined.
Over 50,000 refugees — mostly women and children — have crossed over the western border to Chad, Egypt, South Sudan and the Central African Republic, the United Nations said, raising fears of wider instability. Ethnic fighting and turmoil has scarred South Sudan and the Central African Republic while Chad’s own democratic transition has stalled after a coup.
Those who escape Khartoum face more obstacles on their way to safety. The overland journey to Port Sudan, where ships then evacuate people via the Red Sea, has proven long and risky. Hatim el-Madani, a former journalist, said that paramilitary fighters were refugees at roadblocks out of the capital, demanding they hand over their phones and valuables. stopping
“There’s an outlaw, bandit-like nature to the RSF militia,” he said, referring to the Rapid Support Forces.
