OAN Roy Francis
Updated 11:06 am – Tuesday, April 18, 2023
After pressure from the United States and many other countries, two warring Sudanese generals agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire.
A confrontation between two military leaders erupted on Saturday in what has been called a catastrophe, including the near-collapse of the country’s health care system.
The fighting erupted as a result of a power struggle between the country’s two top generals, General Abdelfata Burhan, commander of the army, and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the militia group Rapid Relief Force. bottom.
An unprecedented battle between two generals, each supported by tens of thousands of fighters and fully equipped with tanks, artillery, fighter planes and other heavy weapons, killed millions of civilians for days. Trapped indoors.
According to Jeffrey Feltman, a former U.S. envoy for the Horn of Africa, the two generals have had a “marriage of convenience” since the military coup that ousted Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
“Ultimately, that partnership didn’t define who would end up on top,” Feltman said. “So what you have now is a battle to the death over who will win and whether the military government should continue in Sudan.”
After al-Bashir’s ouster, the two generals jointly engineered a military coup in 2021 to derail the country’s transition to democracy. A new outbreak of violence threatened to plunge Sudan into full-blown civil war, and the country was trying to regain its appetite for democratic government.
At least 185 people have been reported dead and nearly 2,000 injured since fighting began four days ago. However, the number is estimated to be much higher due to the bodies on the streets that were unreachable due to the fighting. At least six hospitals were also closed because of the fighting, said Atiyah Adbara Atiyah, secretary of the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate.
The Sudan Doctors Syndicate, a casualty monitoring group, put the civilian death toll at 144 so far, with 796 injured and said the number was rising.
Heavy fighting is taking place in multiple areas of Khartoum and Omdurman, with tens of thousands of troops from both sides deployed in nearly every area.
NPR correspondent Emmanuel Akinwotu said the situation was a “nightmare” for civilians, as places frequented by civilians to procure supplies and food “turned into battlefields before their very eyes.” Reported.
Khartoum journalist Zeinad Mohammed Salih, who has taken refuge in his home since the fighting broke out, described how fierce the fighting has been.
“There are heavy firefights all over the city. Military planes are constantly flying over us. There is a small market nearby, but food is scarce. I can’t,” she told Up First on Monday.
US Secretary of State Anthony Brinken confirmed on Tuesday that a US diplomatic fleet carrying diplomatic plates and US flags had been attacked in Sudan. He called the attack “irresponsible and of course unsafe”.
“I can confirm that yesterday there was an American diplomatic convoy that was set on fire,” Blinken said while in Japan. “All of our people are safe and unharmed, but this action is reckless, irresponsible, and of course unsafe. Diplomatic convoy with diplomatic plates, US flag on fire.”
The United States, the European Union, the United Nations, Africa and Arab countries have all called for an end to the fighting. Mr Blinken said he had spoken to both generals, who separately appealed for a ceasefire, “so that Sudanese can be safely reunited with their families.”
Army Gen. Shams El-Din Kabasi, a member of Sudan’s ruling military council, appeared on Al-Arabiya TV, saying the two generals agreed to a ceasefire that would begin at 6:00 p.m. and not extend beyond the agreed 24 hours. said he had agreed to .
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