Sudanese Army fighter jets began bombing paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) positions again early Sunday in the second day of fighting in and around the country’s capital Khartoum, while hostilities have spread particularly to the east of the country, at a provisional cost of 56 civilians killed and 600 wounded.
The towns closest to Khartoum, such as its sister-city Omdurman and Bahri (also known as Khartoum North), are the scene of shelling and light and heavy artillery crossings, as are the towns of Kasala and Gadarif, on the border with Eritrea, and Port Sudan, in the northeast.
Both sides have also confirmed hostilities in the town of Damazin in the south of the country, where the military reportedly destroyed 35 RSF vehicles, while the governor of North Darfur, a huge region covering a large portion of the double border with Chad and Libya, has also reported clashes.
It was also learned last night of the death of three local UN personnel in the town of El Fasher, in West Darfur, victims of fighting between the army and paramilitaries at a military base in the area, according to an internal UN report reported by the Bloomberg agency.
Army and paramilitary have been announcing victories all night in different parts of the capital without any possibility of verifying their information given the prevailing chaos. While the military claims to have taken over an RSF base in the Karari district, the paramilitaries announced this morning on their Twitter account the downing of a Sukhoi military plane that had been bombing their positions in the city for the last few hours.
The balance of victims is being provided by the Sudan Doctors Committee, one of the few civilian organizations qualified to make this kind of estimates as it did in previous episodes of violence in the country. At the moment, the group estimates that approximately 56 civilians have died and 595 others have been wounded while the number of dead and wounded among military and paramilitary is in the »dozens».
The Sudanese doctors have also demanded urgent medical equipment and «specialists of all kinds, surgeons and anesthesiologists» in the three hospitals of the capital: Bashair, East Nile and International.
UN SECURITY COUNCIL CALLS FOR AN END TO COMBATING The United Nations Security Council has in recent hours called on the army and paramilitaries to put an immediate end to hostilities and return to the civilian transition process which they came within a step of signing at the beginning of the month and which has now completely collapsed.
»The members of the Security Council express their deep concern about the clashes between the Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as their regret for the loss of lives, including those of civilians,» according to a statement posted by the US ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, on his Twitter account.
»The Security Council,» the note added, »urge all parties to immediately cease hostilities and restore calm, and call on all actors involved to return to dialogue to resolve the current crisis.»
The UN’s highest executive body also urges the sides to keep humanitarian access open and ensure the safety of their personnel. The members of the Security Council reaffirm their firm commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Sudan,» the note concludes.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
