Residents of the city, known as the “capital of displacement”, were alarmed by violent gunfire in the past few hours and plumes of smoke rose after an attack by Rapid Support Forces on the eastern side of Lut Madani. According to preliminary reports, both sides used around 400 military vehicles.
The Rapid Support Forces announced on their media pages that they had taken control of the Hantoob Bridge, which links most of eastern Sudan’s cities to the country’s center and the capital Khartoum, and shot down a military MIG plane, sources said. The army denied the reports and said it was responding to the attack.
Aside from reports of improved activity around the city of Wat Madani, 180 kilometers from the capital Khartoum, considered one of the country’s most important economic centers, some two million people have been displaced there. And most of the industries and economic and commercial establishments were relocated to Khartoum after the fighting broke out, leaving thousands to find many residents had no choice but to move south.
Speaking to Sky News Arabia, a tearful Haja Amna said: “Two months after the fighting broke out in Khartoum, we came to Madani after we were there with death, hunger and looting. Here we face a new reality, even the city we moved to seems unsafe.
With great anger and sadness, Haja Amna wondered about the guilt of civilians, residents and displaced people in the futile war, she said, “Instead of continuing this war that has destroyed the nation and its people, rational people should sit down. Stop it, we have lost everything, our homes and our money, and more.” Our children “have not seen schools for over 9 months. We are in real danger, and the world will not care about our worst crisis.”
Al-Jazeera’s infiltration of rapid support forces into the strategic state began about 5 weeks ago, when video clips it released showed its forces entering the “Al-Aidj” area 120 kilometers away in November. Madani, the capital of the state, came a day after taking control of the Al-Ailafon area, considered the central state’s main road, located about 30 kilometers east of Khartoum, which houses the most important training camp for army recruits. , in addition to being a major hub for South Sudan’s oil exports passing through Sudanese territory.
These developments have fueled fears that the war will continue to expand, which has so far encompassed the five states of Darfur, plus large parts of Kordoban state, leading to further destruction and casualties.
Data from ACLED, an organization that specializes in collecting data on conflicts and their events, put the death toll at around 12,000 so far, while the number of people displaced inside and outside the country is more than 8 million.
A strategy for expanding the scope of war
According to military strategist Amin Ismail Majsoop, expanding the scope of the current war in different parts of the country is a strategy so that quick support forces can reduce the pressure on his forces in Khartoum and occupy the military forces by opening new fronts.
Majzoub told Sky News Arabia that trying to open new fronts would “cost a lot in terms of the field”, pointing to the risk of tensions between the parties where other warring forces have entered.
The regions of Kordofan, Darfur, Al-Jazeera and White Nile are considered to be the most affected by the fighting in Khartoum, as many parts of those regions have seen violent fighting in the past weeks.
Observers warn that the prolongation of the war could lead to an expansion into many of the country’s cities that were considered safe havens for those displaced from the burning areas, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation.
In this case, journalist Rasha Awad said, the danger of this war continuing is that it will spread to safe states.
Awad expresses his concern about the residents of Madani and those displaced there after the war: “Their numbers are huge, most of them poor and destitute, unable to relocate. The safety of the citizens depends on stopping the war. In a serious manner, guns, bullets and aerial bombardment will calm and prevent the spread of the war to other areas. Entering into arrangements for political settlement through preventive negotiations.
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