The Sudanese army reported that its units clashed on Thursday with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group in Khartoum, on the first day of a week-long truce sponsored by South Sudan.
“Our forces entered today [quinta-feira] at dawn in a confrontation with the rebels who tried to attack the command of the North Military Region of Khartoum”, the Armed Forces reported in a statement, adding that there were deaths and injuries in the ranks of the RSF, without giving further details.
In response to the attacks, the army warned citizens of the capital “to stay away from the fighting.”
Khartoum residents told the EFE news agency that this was the “most intense fighting” since the start of hostilities, as they heard loud explosions at the Palace of the Republic and the general command of the army in the center of Khartoum, as well as clashes. in the streets of the military zone of North Khartoum.
The paramilitaries, for their part, said in a statement that the Army had violated the humanitarian truce by attacking their “units and residential neighborhoods with indiscriminate artillery and aerial bombardments.”
“The Rapid Support Forces condemn the irresponsible actions of the leaders of the coup forces and the extremist remnants of the extinct regime by violating the declared humanitarian truce and by attacking our forces,” the paramilitaries said in a note published on their official account. Twitter. .
The new fighting and bombardments come a few hours after the longest humanitarian pause agreed by both parties since the start of the conflict in the country on April 15 came into effect, announced two days ago by South Sudan, the main mediator of the conflict.
The purpose of this truce is to allow aid to enter Sudan, which is experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe according to the United Nations (UN) and the flight of foreigners and citizens who remain caught in the crossfire.
The South Sudanese government also indicated that the two belligerent leaders, army chief Abdelfatah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti”, should use this week to name spokesmen for the delegations for the agreed peace talks.
According to the UN, some 100,000 people have already displaced to neighboring countries because of the conflict, which has caused at least 550 deaths, with Chad and Egypt being the countries that hosted the most Sudanese.
Source: TSF
