The Sudanese Army Opens Volunteering Opportunities After Consecutive Defeats
Battles continued in Sudan , as the center of the capital Khartoum and the Bahri area, located to the north, came under artillery shelling from Omdurman, according to eyewitnesses. Meanwhile, the army renewed its call for civilians to volunteer and join its ranks to fight against the Rapid Support Forces, despite the previous calls falling on deaf ears due to its ongoing battlefield defeats.
The Sudanese Armed Forces appealed in a statement to “the youth and anyone capable of joining the armed forces to defend the entity and dignity of the Sudanese nation.” They added that “the leaders of divisions and military regions have been instructed to receive and prepare the fighters.”
This is not the first time the army has called on citizens to volunteer since the war began with the Rapid Support Forces about three months ago. However, the previous calls did not receive much response from civilians, especially as many of them sought to flee from conflict areas.
This new call comes after a series of artillery shelling that began at 4 am in Khartoum, which is known as the Triangle Capital as it consists of three areas: Khartoum, Bahri, and Omdurman.
A resident reported, “Artillery shelling from North Omdurman is targeting Khartoum and Bahri since 4 in the morning.” Other witnesses confirmed these reports.
In the Darfur region in the west of the country, the Rapid Support Forces launched an attack on the military headquarters in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, on Sunday night.
In a related context, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo announced in a statement that they have started an “intensive campaign to combat looting and vandalism, especially the theft of civilian vehicles.” The statement pointed out that the Rapid Support Forces “will verify any military personnel driving a civilian vehicle” and confirmed that the vehicle and the driver would be “detained and subjected to field trial.”
The statement highlighted that “during the past few days, the campaign has achieved significant successes by apprehending a large number of fugitives and recovering stolen goods and looted cars.”
Since April 15th, Sudan has witnessed clashes between the army led by Abdul Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Daglo, also known as “Hemeti.” The conflict has resulted in the death of more than 2,800 people and the displacement of over 2.8 million individuals.
On Sunday, UNICEF representative Mandip O’Brien called via her Twitter account for “expanding the distribution of therapeutic food and working on primary healthcare groups to treat injured and sick children in West Darfur.” She attributed this to “thousands of families with children fleeing violence in West Darfur.”
The battles are concentrated in the capital and nearby areas, as well as in the Darfur region. The United Nations has warned that the situation could escalate to “crimes against humanity,” and the conflict is taking on increasingly ethnic dimensions.
More than 600,000 Sudanese have sought refuge in neighboring countries, especially in Egypt to the north and Chad to the west, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Doctors Without Borders warned on Sunday that the White Nile State, located south of Khartoum, has started receiving an “increasing number” of displaced people.”
