The bleeding in Sudan continues… Khartoum under shelling and the army requests civilian supportThe bleeding in Sudan continues… Khartoum under shelling and the army requests civilian support
The civilians barely turned the page on Eid al-Adha when the sky and earth were filled with shells and bullets, reminding everyone of the difficult reality in Sudan.
Fighting in Sudan continued on Monday, with artillery shelling originating from Omdurman targeting the center of the capital, Khartoum, and the Bahri area to its north, according to eyewitnesses. Meanwhile, the army renewed its call for civilians to volunteer and join its ranks to fight the Rapid Support Forces.
The Sudanese Armed Forces issued a statement appealing to “the youth and anyone capable of doing so, to participate in the armed forces in defense of the entity and the dignity of the Sudanese nation.”
The army further added that leaders of military divisions and regions have been instructed to receive and prepare the fighters.
This is not the first time the army has called on civilians to volunteer since the fighting began against the Rapid Support Forces about three months ago. However, their previous calls did not find willing ears among civilians, especially as many of them desire to escape from conflict areas.
This new call comes after intense artillery shelling that began at four in the morning in Khartoum, which is called the Triangular Capital as it consists of three areas: Khartoum, Khartoum Bahri, and Omdurman.
A resident told “AFP” that “artillery shelling from the north of Omdurman is targeting Khartoum and Bahri since four in the morning.” Other witnesses confirmed this information.
In the Darfur region in the western part 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.
General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as “Hemeti,” announced in a statement that they have started an “intensive campaign to combat looting and vandalism, especially the theft of civilian cars.”
The statement also indicated that the Rapid Support Forces “will verify any individual (military) driving a civilian vehicle” and confirmed that such individuals will be “detained along with the vehicle’s driver and presented for immediate trial.”
Since April 15th, Sudan has been witnessing clashes between the army led by Abdul Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Dagalo “Hemeti.”
The conflict has led to the deaths of more than 2,800 people and the displacement of over 2.8 million others.
Expanding Aid
Yesterday, UNICEF representative Mandip O’Brian called on Twitter for “expanding the distribution of therapeutic food and mobilizing primary health care groups to treat injured and sick children in West Darfur”.
The UN official attributed the need for this to “the escape of thousands of families with their children from violence in West Darfur”.
The fighting is concentrated in the capital and nearby areas, as well as in the Darfur region, where the United Nations warned that what is happening there could rise to the level of “crimes against humanity”, and the conflict is taking on increasingly ethnic dimensions.
More than 600,000 Sudanese have sought refuge in neighboring countries, according to the International Organization for Migration, especially in Egypt to the north and Chad to the west.
Even before the outbreak of the fighting, Sudan was one of the poorest countries in the world. According to the United Nations, 25 million people in Sudan, more than half of the population, need humanitarian assistance and protection.
