Heavy gunfire quickly shatters Sudan truce deal

Jack Jeffery and Samy Magdy | April 19, 2023

Fighting between forces loyal to rival generals has raged in Sudan for a fifth day after an internationally brokered truce quickly fell apart. 

The United Nations said the death toll had risen to at least 270 since the violence erupted over the weekend.

Sustained gunfire, artillery attacks and airstrikes rocked the capital Khartoum and the city of Omdurman across the Nile River on Wednesday. Residents reported clashes around the military headquarters and near the international airport.

A 24-hour ceasefire was to have been in effect from sundown Tuesday to sundown Wednesday, with the warring sides pledging publicly to abide by it after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to both generals. Their failure to pause fighting for even a day, despite high-level diplomatic pressure, suggests they remain bent on pursuing a military victory and raises the potential for a prolonged conflict.

Sudanese in the capital and in other cities have been hiding in their homes, caught in the crossfire as rival forces pounded residential areas with artillery and airstrikes and engaged in gunbattles outside.

The director-general of the UN’s World Health Organisation, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said at least 270 people have been killed and more than 2600 wounded since fighting began Saturday, without offering a breakdown of civilians and combatants killed. 

The Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate, which monitors casualties, Tuesday said at least 174 civilians had been killed and hundreds wounded.

But the toll is believed to be much higher as bodies in the street have been unreachable because of ongoing fighting. Dozens of health care facilities close to the clashes in Khartoum and in hot spots across the country stopped functioning, either because they were damaged or had to be evacuated for safety reasons.

The conflict between the armed forces, led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has again derailed Sudan’s transition to democratic rule after decades of dictatorship and civil war.

Pro-democracy groups and political parties had recently reached an agreement with the two generals – who jointly led a 2021 coup – but it was never signed and is now in tatters.

The latest push for a ceasefire was led by Blinken, who spoke separately to the two generals earlier this week. Egypt, which backs the Sudanese military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have close ties to the RSF, have also been calling on all sides to stand down.

Blinken had described the proposed one-day humanitarian ceasefire, which was to have begun Tuesday evening, as a building block for a longer truce and a return to eventual negotiations. But fighting continued after the intended start of the truce and through the night.

Each side already has tens of thousands of troops distributed around Khartoum and the city of Omdurman on the opposite bank of the Nile River. Terrified residents had hoped for a halt long enough at least to get supplies or move to safer areas. The fighting erupted suddenly at the start of the last week of the Islamic holy month of fasting, Ramadan.

Videos posted online on Tuesday showed Souq al-Bahri, a large outdoor market in northern Khartoum, in flames from nearby clashes. Satellite images from Maxar Technologies taken Monday showed damage across Khartoum, including to security service buildings. Tanks stood guard at a bridge over the White Nile River and other locations.

The fighting is the latest chapter in Sudan’s turmoil since a popular uprising four years ago helped depose long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

Burhan and Dagalo jointly orchestrated an October 2021 coup, derailing efforts to enshrine a civilian government. Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses, and their forces have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.

Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups. But the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command – tensions that exploded into violence on Saturday.