The Medical Union in Sudan announced on Thursday, “the commencement of an indefinite strike in government hospitals in the city of Al-Obaid in North Kordofan State, due to non-implementation of its demands.”
The Medical Union stated through its page on Facebook that “government hospitals in Al-Obaid city have entered into an open strike in all departments starting from Thursday, August 3, 8 a.m., until the declared demands are met,” adding that this comes “after the expiration of the 48-hour period given by the General Assembly of Physicians at Al-Obaid Teaching Hospital to the Director-General.”
Hospital directors and state governments have been asked to “provide the health environment and requirements that ensure the continued provision of health services to citizens amid a war that has been ongoing for four months, so as not to exacerbate the fatigue of the citizens that has reached its peak.”
Violent and widespread clashes have been ongoing for more than three months between the Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Forces in various regions of Sudan, most of them concentrated in the capital, Khartoum, leaving hundreds of civilians dead and wounded.
Disagreements appeared between the head of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council and the commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, following the signing of the “framework agreement” establishing the transitional period between the military and civilian components last December. The agreement endorsed the army’s withdrawal from politics and the handing over of power to civilians.
Dagalo accused the Sudanese army of planning to remain in power and not handing over authority to civilians, following the army’s demands to integrate the Rapid Support Forces under the banner of the Armed Forces. Meanwhile, the army considered the movements of the Rapid Support Forces a rebellion against the state.
It was scheduled to sign the final political agreement to end the crisis in Sudan on the first of last April, in addition to signing the constitutional document on the sixth of the same month. This has not happened due to differences in vision between the leaders of the armed forces and the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces, related to determining timelines for integrating the Rapid Support Forces into the army.
