[News] Balance of the weekend in Sudan leaves more than 50 civilians dead

[Arben]

 

A satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows smoke over Khartoum International Airport, in Khartoum, Sudan, on April 16, 2023. Loud gunfire and explosions were reported in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on April 15 between the army and a paramilitary group after days of tension. around the country's proposed transition to civilian rule.

Violent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the powerful Rapid Support Forces (FAR) paramilitary group continued today for the second day in a row, leaving more than 50 civilians dead across the country so far amid numerous calls to reach a truce.

Apart from the fighting, the day was marked by a timid three-hour cessation of hostilities and the opening of a humanitarian corridor in residential areas that allowed many Sudanese trapped in schools, offices or other facilities to return to their homes, as well as head to the hospital.

According to the Sudanese Doctors Union, five civilians were killed today in violence in Khartoum and in the troubled area of Darfur, in the west of the country.

Likewise, the Central Committee of Doctors indicated that up to now it has registered a total of 56 dead civilians, in addition to almost 600 wounded also among the ranks of the uniformed, but warned that the figure could be much higher because the emergency teams do not have access to several areas of the country due to the intensity of the fighting.

CALLS FOR DIALOGUE
The civil opposition alliance Forces for Freedom and Change (FLyC), the main civil group in Sudan, spoke today after remaining silent throughout the day on Saturday, when fighting broke out between the Army and the FAR.

The FLyC are the most important civil group in the country, and before the clashes began, they were negotiating a political agreement with the paramilitaries and uniformed personnel who perpetrated the 2021 coup.

Thus, they urged the Army and the FAR to "stop the military confrontations immediately and return to the negotiating tables," a call that was ignored by the belligerent parties.

The Arab League countries, for their part, concerned that an escalation in Sudan could destabilize the region, held an urgent meeting at the request of Egypt and Saudi Arabia to address the situation in the African country.

The meeting ended with the preparation of a final communiqué in which the members of the pan-Arab organization demanded an end to the fighting and a return to peaceful means.

They also announced the willingness of the Arab League to "do everything possible to help Sudan", while the Sudanese representative in the organization, Al Sadiq Omar Abdalá, affirmed that what is happening in his country is an "internal matter ” that should not give way to “international interference”.

A TRUCE OF THREE HOURS
The good news of the day was the opening of humanitarian corridors in residential areas in Sudan, an agreement reached between the FAR and the Army at the proposal of the UN that was fulfilled and allowed the movement of the Sudanese who had been trapped since morning of Saturday.

This kind of truce allowed the evacuation of 450 boys and girls from a school in the center of Khartoum, where they had been locked up for more than 24 hours without access to basic services, since the bombings and artillery attacks interrupted electricity, water drinking water and telecommunications for hours.

And it is that, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the clashes are taking place in the vicinity of densely po[CENSORED]ted areas of Khartoum and other cities in the country.

International organizations have made numerous calls for the cessation of hostilities, which have also directly affected humanitarian workers.

Among them, the World Food Program (WFP), which has decided to temporarily suspend its operations in Sudan after the death of three of its employees in acts of violence in northern Darfur, reported today Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the organization.

In addition, the UN denounced that several humanitarian facilities were looted during the chaos unleashed by the clashes, while the organization's Secretary General, António Guterres, called for those responsible for the deaths of civilians and WFP workers in Sudan to be brought to justice. Without delay.