U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is pictured in Nairobi, Kenya in May. Guterres says Sudan is on the brink of a “full-scale civil war,” as fierce clashes between rival generals continued unabated Sunday in the capital, Khartoum.
Khalil Senosi/AP
conceal caption
toggle caption
Khalil Senosi/AP
U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is pictured in Nairobi, Kenya in May. Guterres says Sudan is on the brink of a “full-scale civil war,” as fierce clashes between rival generals continued unabated Sunday in the capital, Khartoum.
Khalil Senosi/AP
CAIRO — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres mentioned Sudan is on the brink of a “full-scale civil war” as fierce clashes between rival generals continued unabated Sunday in the capital of Khartoum.
Guterres warned late Saturday that the struggle between the Sudanese navy and a highly effective paramilitary pressure is more likely to destabilize the total area, in keeping with Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the U.N. chief.
Sudan descended into chaos after months of pressure between navy chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and his rival, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open combating in mid-April.
Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim mentioned final month that the clashes have killed over 3,000 individuals and wounded over 6,000 others. The loss of life tally, nonetheless, is extremely more likely to be a lot greater, he mentioned. More than 2.9 million individuals have fled their houses to safer areas inside Sudan or crossed into neighboring international locations, in keeping with U.N. figures.
The combating started 18 months after the two generals led a military coup in October 2021 that toppled a Western-backed civilian transition authorities. The coup and ensuing battle dashed Sudanese hopes of a peaceable shift to democracy after a common rebellion compelled the navy elimination of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
The struggle has turned the capital Khartoum and different city areas throughout the nation into battlefields.
Residents in Khartoum mentioned fierce combating was underway early Sunday south of the capital. The warring factions have been utilizing heavy weapons in battles in the Kalaka neighborhood and the navy’s plane have been seen hovering over the space, mentioned resident Abdalla al-Fatih.
In his assertion, Guterres additionally condemned an airstrike Saturday that well being authorities mentioned killed not less than 22 individuals in Omdurman, a metropolis simply throughout the Nile from the Khartoum. The assault was one of the deadliest in the battle thus far.
The RSF blamed the navy for the assault in Omdurman. The navy denied the accusation, saying in a assertion Sunday that its air pressure did not perform any airstrikes in the metropolis Saturday.
Darfur has skilled some of the worst combating in the battle
The secretary-general additionally decried the large-scale violence and casualties in the western area of Darfur, which has skilled some of the worst combating in the ongoing battle, Haq mentioned in a assertion.
“There is an utter disregard for humanitarian and human rights law that is dangerous and disturbing,” Guterres mentioned.
U.N. officers have mentioned the violence in the area has lately taken on an ethnic dimension, with the RSF and Arab militias reportedly focusing on non-Arab tribes in Darfur, a sprawling area consisting of 5 provinces. Last month, the governor of Darfur, Mini Arko Minawi, mentioned the area was sliding again to its previous genocide, referring to the battle that engulfed the area in the early 2000s.
Entire cities and villages in West Darfur province have been overrun by the RSF and their allied militias, forcing tens of 1000’s of residents to flee to neighboring Chad. Activists have reported many residents killed, girls and women raped, and properties looted and burned to the floor.
There have been clashes between the navy and the RSF elsewhere in Sudan on Sunday, together with the province of North Kordofan, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Egypt, in the meantime, mentioned it can host a assembly on Thursday for Sudan’s neighboring international locations. The gathering goals at establishing “effective mechanisms” to assist discover a peaceable settlement to the battle in coordination with different worldwide and regional efforts, Ahmed Fahmy, spokesman for Egypt’s presidency, mentioned in a assertion.
Fahmy supplied no additional particulars on the gathering.
The efforts come as talks between warring factions in the Saudi Arabian coastal metropolis of Jeddah repeatedly did not cease the combating. The Jeddah talks have been brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States.
