Sudanese crisis: Truce extended but fighting rages amid fears of civil war in restive Darfur Al-Geneina Darfur is the other region negatively affected due to conflict with capital Khartoum Sudanese refugees who fled violence in their country are seen as they gather near the Sudan-Chad border, in Koufroun, Chad (Image: Reuters)
Al-Geneina in Darfur is the other region affected by the conflict with the capital Khartoum
Although Sudan’s warring generals, the head of the armed forces, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the leader of the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, agreed on Sunday to extend the ceasefire -fire, the fighting only intensified.
The Sudanese army carried out airstrikes to flush out RSF troops, BBC said in a report.
There are millions of citizens still trapped in Khartoum and more than 500 people have died, with several thousand injured. The death toll is expected to be much higher than those estimates, news agencies reported.
The injured have nowhere to go as more than 70% of health facilities in the capital have been forced to close since April 15.
BBC Journalist Paul Adams said in a report that the Sudanese army would find it difficult to drive the RSF troops out of Khartoum.
The Sudanese soldiers outnumber the RSF soldiers and are better armed, but the BBC report underlines that the paramilitary troops of the RSF “are very mobile and more adapted to urban warfare”, the BBC said.
Darfur targeted again?
Civilians in Darfur were again caught in the crossfire this weekend as the RSF and the Sudanese army clashed in two areas of Darfur. This raised fears of a civil war in Darfur.
Darfur is a sensitive region because the warring factions jointly played a major role during the Darfur conflict in 2003 by suppressing the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) which claimed that non-Arab Sudanese were oppressed by the Sudanese people of Arab origin and their rulers.
The Sudanese army and the RSF are accused of having committed crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocidal rapes and acts of ethnic cleansing.
To add fuel to the fire, local militias are also now arming themselves to join the fight. Some of these militias are linked to the parties fighting in Khartoum, the Guardian reported.
THE Guardian also said community leaders are trying to keep the peace.
Geneina or Al Junaynah from Darfur is the most affected, the Guardian stated in his report and stated that schools, hospitals, public buildings and camps for internally displaced persons were completely destroyed due to the fighting.
Quoting Mohamed Osman of Human Rights Watch, the news agency said local markets, a university hospital and assembly points were completely destroyed.
Medical workers said more than 100 people died in Geneina on Thursday alone and more than 250 people died in the recent violence.
Read all the latest news here
