• Monday, 01 July 2024

Renewed fighting in Sudan after brief Eid ceasefire

Renewed fighting in Sudan after brief Eid ceasefire

Fighting between rival military groups in Sudan continued overnight after a brief ceasefire.

 

On Saturday morning, the capital Khartoum was bombed again, a reporter at the scene told dpa. Shots rang out in the city, and eyewitnesses writing on Twitter reported explosions in the capital.

 

A ceasefire, which the parties to the conflict had agreed to on Friday due to the Eid al-Fitr celebrations to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, had largely held during the night, the reporter said. There were only "sporadic clashes."

 

Fighting broke out in Sudan about a week ago between the country's two most powerful generals and their respective military units.

 

De facto president Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is also commander-in-chief of the army, is fighting with the military against his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, the leader of the powerful paramilitary group RSF.

 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 413 people have lost their lives and more than 3,500 have been injured since the fighting began.

 

Meanwhile, according to the German Defence Ministry, the Bundeswehr is making preparations for a new attempt to evacuate German citizens. On Wednesday, an attempt at a diplomatic evacuation with air force planes had been aborted.

 

The airport in Khartoum has been at the centre of the fighting since the beginning of the conflict.

 

Diplomats want to be confident that a ceasefire will hold while they try to carry out an evacuation. Other countries such as the United States, Britain and Spain are also considering evacuating their nationals.

 

Photo: MIA archive