Fourth day of the Sudan generals’ combat; 185 dead
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Raven Ruma
- . April 18, 2023
- . Update: April 19, 2023 8:37 pm
Sudanese crowded inside their homes in the nation’s capital Khartoum and other cities as gunfire and explosions erupted outside as the army and a strong opposition party fought in street battles for control of the country.
According to UN envoy Volker Perthes, since the fighting began, at least 185 people have died and more than 1,800 have been hurt. Both sides are using tanks, artillery, and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas. Fighter jets flew above and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell.
As a result of the fighting making it impossible to enter the streets surrounding central Khartoum, the death toll might be significantly higher. There has been no official announcement on the number of civilian fatalities.
The abrupt outbreak of combat over the weekend between the two leading generals of the country, both supported by tens of thousands of heavily armed fighters, forced millions of civilians inside their homes or wherever they could find refuge. Numerous hospitals were forced to close because supplies were running low.
Read | Sudan’s Rapid Forces’ fierce fighting in Khartoum
While leading diplomats from all four continents hurried to mediate a ceasefire, the UN Security Council was slated to discuss the crisis.
According to Japan’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, the G7 countries have agreed that the violence in Sudan must halt immediately away. The G7 foreign ministers are meeting in Karuizawa.
The official claims that Blinken highlighted that it was the responsibility of both generals, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, to ensure the safety of non-combatants including diplomats and aid workers.
“Gunfire and shelling are everywhere,” said Awadeya Mahmoud Koko from her home in a southern Khartoum area, the leader of a union that represents hundreds of tea vendors and other food service workers.
She stated that at least three people died as a consequence of a shell that allegedly hit a neighbor’s house on Sunday. “We couldn’t bury them or take them to the hospital.”
White smoke rose as constant gunfire erupted near the main military headquarters, a crucial battlefront, in Khartoum. At least 88 students and staff members have been stuck in the engineering college library at Khartoum University since the violence started, one of the neighboring students claimed in a video posted online on Monday.
He asserted that one student was killed and another was hurt in the outdoor fights. He said they were without food or water and pointed to a room full of people asleep on the floor.
