Fighting continues in Sudan as the death toll reaches 97
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Raven Ruma
- . April 17, 2023
- . Update: April 17, 2023 10:40 pm
Explosions rocked Sudan’s capital city of Khartoum on Monday as fighting between the regular army and paramilitaries entered its third day and the dead toll surpassed 100.
Violence broke out on Saturday following weeks of power struggles between Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who is in control of the lethal paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
A large international outcry calling for an immediate halt to hostilities and discussion was sparked by the raging conflicts.
The doctors’ union said in a statement early on Monday that “the death toll among civilians in clashes since it began on Saturday… has reached 97,” adding that the number does not include all casualties since many could not reach hospitals due to transportation challenges.
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According to the report, the fights injured hundreds of bystanders. As skirmishes persisted, loud gunshots and thunderous explosions were be heard across Khartoum’s streets on Monday morning, according to AFP correspondents.
According to witnesses, heavy plumes of black smoke were coming from the destroyed structures, and the smell of gunpowder persisted.
An important requirement for a final accord intended to settle the conflict since the military coup Burhan and Daglo masterminded in 2021, the planned incorporation of the RSF into the regular army, led to the outbreak of combat.
Following the removal of president Omar Al-Bashir in 2019, the coup already stalled Sudan’s transition to civilian administration and exacerbated the country’s spiralling economic catastrophe.
Fearing a protracted conflict that could worsen the country’s disarray and crush aspirations for a restoration to civilian control, the fighting pushed Sudanese to take refuge in their houses.
The two sides have traded accusations on who began the fighting ever since Saturday. Each has asserted dominance by claiming control over strategic locations, such as the airport and the presidential palace, although none of their assertions have been objectively corroborated.
Fighting also broke out in the eastern border state of Kassala and in the western Darfur region of the Sudan.
