The Rapid Support Forces stated in a proclamation today, Thursday, that it will not lift the siege on the Sudanese army leaders in Khartoum unless a final resolution agreement is reached. Fierce battles continue in the Sudanese capital today as both the army and the “Rapid Support Forces” engage in reciprocal attacks on each other’s positions, according to the testimonies of residents reported by “Agence France-Presse.”
Residents from the western suburb of Greater Khartoum, Omdurman, informed “Agence France-Presse” that they witnessed “heavy artillery and missile bombardment from north of Omdurman city towards Khartoum.” Others pointed to an attack by the “Rapid Support Forces” on the Wadi Saydna airbase north of Omdurman “using drones”. The “Rapid Support Forces” confirmed in a statement, “Our special forces carried out a new military task inside Wadi Saydna military base in Karrari, Omdurman.”
The attack resulted in the “destruction of three warplanes, armament and military equipment stores, supplies, and the killing and wounding of dozens of coup forces.”
Meanwhile, a statement from the residents of a town in West Darfur state reported they have been under continuous attack for three days. The statement noted that the town of Serba, located southwest of Geneina (capital of West Darfur state), has been “under attack by Arab militias supported by the Rapid Support Forces for three days, resulting in casualties and the burning of a number of homes.”
In the city of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, residents reported violent clashes between the warring parties. The army controls the southern part of the city, while the Rapid Support Forces control the north.
In the meantime, the police force headquarters announced in a statement, the death of Assistant Director General for Supply, Major General Omar Muhammad Ibrahim Hamouda, “during the events of the central reserve forces’ command in Khartoum.” The Rapid Support Forces announced last week, “complete control over the central reserve forces’ presidency” in the capital.
The war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces broke out on April 15 and has centered in the capital and its suburbs and Darfur region in the west of the country.
Sudan, with an estimated population of about 48 million people, is among the poorest countries in the world, even before the current conflict that forced about 3.5 million people to flee, more than 700,000 of whom have left the country, especially to neighboring countries.
Chad is one of the main neighbors that have received a large number of Sudanese displaced persons, especially from the west of the country, where the war-torn Darfur region is located. The number of people who have fled to Chad exceeds 240,000 people.
In a virtual press conference for the Regional Office of Eastern Mediterranean countries by the World Health Organization, the representative of the United Nations organization in Chad warned that thousands of children in Sudanese displaced persons’ camps face “severe malnutrition,” pointing to the death of 65 children under the age of five.
On the other hand, the representative of the organization in Sudan, Nama Abed, pointed out the “cessation of all immunization activities” against epidemics such as cholera and measles, which are expected to spread during the rainy season.
