John Adoyi, PBA Journalism MenteeA 72-hour cease-fire that was agreed on by the warring factions in the Sudan conflict has been broken as fighting has resumed in the capital Khartoum and other cities like Darfur.
Air strikes, artillery bombardment and the rolling of tanks can be heard around the country as thousands of citizens scamper for safety in neighboring countries and cities.
The Sudanese army led by General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and the Rapid Support Force (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo agreed Thursday to extend a repeatedly broken ceasefire for three more days after mediation led by the United States, the African Union, and the United Nations.
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“We hear the sounds of planes and explosions. We don’t know when this hell will end.” A resident of Bahri, one of the affected town told reporters.
A resident of the capital Khartoum told AFP that “we woke up once again to the sound of fighter jets and anti-aircraft weapons blasting all over our neighbourhood.”
Fighting which broke out on April 15 has resulted to the death of at least 512 people and 4,193 wounded according to the country’s health ministry figures.
Properties worth millions have been destroyed with citizens left with acute shortages of food and other basic necessities like electricity.
The Sudanese doctors union also warned that the collapse of the health system was “eminent.”
Thousands have fled to neighbouring countries of Egypt, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
Some 75,000 have been internally displaced by the fighting in Khartoum and the states of Blue Nile, North Kordofan, as well as the restive western region of Darfur, the UN said.
Countries like Nigeria, the United States, Britain, and India are evacuating their citizens from the country.
Meanwhile, both Generals have traded blame on different media platforms and have refused to back down.
In an interview with US-based TV channel Alhurra, General Burhan said he cannot sit down with the leader of the RSF, General Daglo who is bringing mercenaries from Chad and Niger Republic. He also called the RSF a group that aims “to destroy Sudan.”
On his part, Daglo told the BBC that the army is relentlessly bombing his fighters.
He also blamed Burhan for the conflict and said negotiations cannot take place until Burhan ceases hostilities.
“Cease hostilities. After that we can have negotiations,” Dagalo said.
General Burhan and General Daglo worked together in October 2021 to oust the formal leader of Sudan, Omar Al Bashir but fell out as both leaders could not reach common ground on the integration of the RSF into the regular army.
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