Fierce battles broke out on the streets of Sudan’s capital Khartoum between the army and Rapid Support Forces on Friday, despite calls for a civilian ceasefire on the first day of Eid al-Fitr.
According to the new figures from the World Health Organization, “413 people died and 3,551 were wounded” in the fighting, which happened every morning since April 15, and witnesses spoke of gunfire and airstrikes before sunrise.
The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors confirmed in a post on Facebook, “On the night of Eid al-Fitr, many parts of Khartoum were bombed, and shelling and clashes between military forces and rapid support forces are still unfolding.” He added that the clashes had “destroyed buildings, facilities and public property”.
Diplomatic contacts intensified in an attempt to silence the guns, at least during the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
British Foreign Secretary James Wisely said on Friday that he had suspended his trip to the Asia-Pacific region for several days “due to the situation in Sudan”.
On Thursday, Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army chief and president of the Interim Sovereignty Council in Sudan, announced that he had received communications from the leaders of several countries in the region — particularly South Sudan and Ethiopia — and several others. From Officials Abroad – UN Led by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
All these leaders called on al-Burhan to stop fighting on Eid al-Fitr, which was led by Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Taghalo, the second in command, nicknamed the Man in Power.
Khartoum’s five million residents live for the seventh day amid airstrikes, explosions and street clashes.
Many families have been left destitute and now have no electricity or running water. A large number of them try to escape between the checkpoints of high-speed support troops and the army amid corpses strewn on both sides of the road.
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