2023-06-17 15:48:50
According to official figures, 17 people, including five children, were killed in airstrikes by the army on the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Around 25 houses were destroyed in the Mayo district, the health authority said on Saturday and confirmed the reports from residents. The army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been engaged in a bitter power struggle for weeks, from which the civilian population is suffering more and more.
Regular forces have air supremacy over Khartoum and the adjacent cities of Omdurman and Bahri. The RSF, in turn, has entrenched itself in the residential areas. On Friday and Saturday, the army appears to have stepped up airstrikes and shelled several neighborhoods while mediators are pushing for a new ceasefire.
The power struggle between the army and the RSF militia broke out on April 15. Many hundreds of people have been killed since then. Around 2.2 million people were displaced in the course of the fighting. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled to neighboring countries – more than 270,000 to Chad alone. Observers fear a destabilization of the entire region.
The shelling of Mayo is the latest in a string of air and artillery attacks on the poor and densely populated area. Most residents there cannot afford to seek safety elsewhere. Across Khartoum, millions of people are cut off from electricity and water supplies. They have no access to medical care. Food has already been rationed. There is always looting.
In a speech released by the army on Friday, top general Yasser Al-Atta urged people to stay away from houses occupied by the RSF. “Because by that time, we’re going to attack them everywhere,” he said. “There are bullets between us and these rebels,” he said, apparently rejecting further attempts at mediation.
According to insiders, the most recent talks in the Saudi Arabian Jeddah, in which representatives of the USA and Saudi Arabia mediate, were regarding a possible three-day ceasefire and a five-day one during the upcoming Eid festival. An agreement has not yet been reached. Both sides have agreed to ceasefires several times, but have repeatedly broken them. Neither party currently has an advantage in the fighting.
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