As their deadly battle entered its third week despite dire predictions of a cataclysmic civil war, Sudan’s opposing armed forces levelled accusations of new violations of a truce that is slated to expire on Sunday.
Since the start of this tension between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan, hundreds have died and thousands have been injured.
The latest truce, which expires at midnight, is one of several that mediators, including the United States, have been able to arrange for the parties involved in the conflict for Khartoum, the capital of Sudan and a city on the Nile.
After intense clashes were audible on Saturday evening close to the city centre, the situation in Khartoum, where the army has been battling RSF forces entrenched in residential areas, was relatively calm on Sunday morning.
The army announced on Saturday that the Central Reserve Police had started to deploy in southern Khartoum and will be deployed progressively in other regions of the capital, apparently to increase its forces there.
The Central Reserve Police is a sizable and well-equipped branch of the Sudanese police force that has participated in battles in both the southern Nuba Mountains and the western Darfur region.
The Central Reserve Police was subject to sanctions by the United States in March 2022 after it was accused of employing excessive force against demonstrators opposing a military coup in Khartoum and other locations.
RSF forces have been dispersed throughout Khartoum during the conflict as the army tries to target them mostly through drone and fighter jet airstrikes.
Tens of thousands of people have fled this month’s turmoil into neighbouring countries, and there have been predictions that Sudan may break apart, destabilising an already unstable area.
Additionally, it has stalled Sudan’s internationally-supported political transition towards the establishment of a democratic government. Former autocratic President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was ousted from office in 2019 after 30 years in office. So far, it has appeared that the chances of negotiations are slim.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the army, has declared that he will never have a conversation with General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti. In response, the RSF leader stated that he would only speak once the army had ended hostilities.
However, Volker Perthes, the U.N.’s special representative in Sudan, said on Saturday that he had recently noticed a shift in the parties’ attitudes and that they were now more receptive to negotiations and declaring they would accept “some form of talks”.
According to the health ministry, at least 528 people have died and 4,599 have been injured. The real death toll, according to the United Nations, is far higher than the number of deaths that have been reported. One of the greatest such evacuations of foreign nationals has taken place since the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan in 2021.
On Saturday, a convoy led by the US government landed at Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea, to evacuate US citizens as well as local employees and others.
India has launched “Operation Kaveri” to get the Indians stuck in Sudan back to India. Around 3000 have been rescued.
