Sudan War Rages, Ceasefire Fails, 270 Killed, 2600 Injured, Residents Groan

Efforts to evacuate civilian residents out of the war torn Khartoum, the Sudan capital failed few minutes after a 24 hours ceasefire agreement was reached by Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces.

Heavy bombardments and sound of continuous gunfire were heard as Sudanese Armed Forces battled troops of Rapid Support Forces in central Khartoum around areas housing the Army Headquarters and the Sudan main airport on Wednesday, hours after the US brokered ceasefire to evacuate foreigners and civilian residents trapped in the Sudan capital failed.

Earlier, Loud gunfire heard continuously on Tuesday in the background of live broadcast by numbers of television news channels having their war correspondents in Khartoum, minutes after the agreed 6pm (16:00 GMT) ceasefire was expected to began. Forces loyal to the fighting generals battled for key locations in the capital and accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.

Residents said they were still trapped in their homes and were running low on food, water and supplies as dozens of students of the University of Khartoum were reportedly forced to lock themselves in the building of the educational institution just as the new battles began between the army and special forces on Tuesday.

Reports indicated that the Sudan’s military ruler, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan maybe commanding and controlling the fighting from a presidential guesthouse within the Military Headquarters but according to International News Agency, Reuters, it could not be established whether he remained there on Wednesday.

In quote: “The armed forces are responding to a new attack in the vicinity of the General Command, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy and destroying a number of combat vehicles,” the Sudanese Armed Forces said in a statement.

There are reports of violent clashes at the Khartoum airport, attacks on oil depots and warehouses.

Artillery volleys, attacks by combat aircraft and street fighting have made it almost impossible to travel in Khartoum, trapping residents and foreigners in their homes, inline with reports from the Sudan capital.

According to Sudanese Ministry of Health Emergency Operations Center, 270 people have been killed and more than 2,600 injured in the fighting since the supremacy war began on Saturday.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Tuesday said it was nearly impossible to provide humanitarian services around the capital. It warned that Sudan’s health system was at risk of breakdown.

While the fighting goes on continuously on Wednesday, Rapid Support Forces reportedly transfered Egyptian troops from Sudanese Marawi airport amidst clashes with Sudanese Armed Forces to Khartoum

‪Sudan’s Rapid Support transfer the Egyptian troops who have been in the country as part of joint exercises with the Sudanese Armed Forces.

A teacher in Khartoum said one of his young pupils was among those killed, according to Al jazeera news channel.

Following the renewed war, the Egyptian airline, EgyptAir suspended flights to Sudan.

The Supremacy war between Sudan’s military leader and his deputy on Sudan’s ruling council erupted four days ago, Saturday precisely, derailing an internationally backed plan for a transition to a civilian democracy four years after the fall of former leader Omar al-Bashir to mass protests and two years after a military coup.

UN described the war as a humanitarian catastrophe, including the near collapse of the health system. UN World Food Programme suspended operations after three of its employees were killed.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Japan, said on Tuesday that he had telephoned the two rival leaders – Sudanese Armed Forces chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, saying, he had appealed for a ceasefire “to allow the Sudanese to be safely reunited with families” and to provide them with relief.

In quote: “We are keen to implement the truce and restore normal life in the city. But the RSF is a militia that does not respect anything,” said Colonel Khaled Al-Akida, Sudanese Armed Forces spokesperson.

“Our forces deployed in various areas of Khartoum are committed to the truce,” Musa Khaddam, adviser to the commander of the RSF said, according to Al Jazeera.

Al-Burhan heads a ruling council installed after the 2021 military coup and the 2019 removal of al-Bashir, while Dagalo – better known as Hemedti – is his deputy on the ruling council.

Their power struggle has stalled a possible shift to civilian rule after decades of autocracy and military domination in Sudan, a country which sits at a strategic crossroads between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Africa’s volatile Sahel region.