The Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary group battled for control of the chaos-stricken nation for a second day Sunday, signalling they were unwilling to end hostilities despite mounting diplomatic pressure to cease fire.
Heavy fighting involving armoured vehicles, truck-mounted machine guns and war planes raged Sunday in the capital of Khartoum, the adjoining city of Omdurman and in flashpoints across the country. The rival forces are believed to have tens of thousands of fighters each in the capital alone.
At least five civilians were killed and 78 wounded Sunday, bringing the two-day toll to 61 dead and more than 670 wounded, said the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate. The group said it believes there were dozens of additional deaths among the rival forces. The clashes are part of a power struggle between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces group. The two generals are former allies who jointly orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan’s short-lived transition to democracy.
In recent months, internationally backed negotiations revived hopes for such a transition, but growing tensions between Burhan and Dagalo eventually delayed a deal with political parties.
Volker Perthes, the UN envoy for Sudan, announced that both Burhan and Dagalo agreed to a three-hour humanitarian pause in fighting on Sunday.
An hour after the pause was meant to have started in the late afternoon, regular exchanges of guns and heavy weapons firing could still be heard in parts of central Khartoum, even intensifying in some areas. The clashes come as most Sudanese are preparing to celebrate the major holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims traditionally fast from sunrise to sunset.
Residents in the capital said fighting raged around the Sudanese military’s headquarters shortly before sunset. “Heavy explosions and gunfire around the clock,” said Amany Sayed, a 38-year-old Khartoum resident. “The battles here (in the capital) never stopped.”