Shaden Gardood, a well-known musician in the Sudanese city of Omdurman, was killed in a shooting.
Gardood was killed in fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday. The 37-year-old died only one day after a ceasefire accord to limit civilian fatalities was reached.
Fighting erupted in April as a result of a violent power struggle among Sudan’s military commanders. In recent days, the RSF has increased its presence in the al-Hashmab neighborhood, where Gardood had lived.
Her niece Heraa Hassan Mohammed confirmed her death on Facebook, saying, “She was like a mother and a beloved to me, we were just chatting, may God give her mercy.”
She then wrote the Islamic phrase for death: “inna lillah wa inna ilah rajoon.”
Gardood could be heard screaming with her son to close the windows as she sought to flee the bombing in a popular video.
Her voice could be heard commanding, “Get away from the glass…” You should wear it because it will make our last moments together more respectable since, in Allah’s name, we shall die clothed and ready to depart.
Gardood documented the fighting and shelling in her area with regular Facebook live broadcasts, and she also wrote extensively about the conflict.
“We have been trapped in our houses for 25 days…,” she said in one of her final Facebook postings. Despite rampant thieving in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum, citizens have stayed “full of ethics and values” in the face of adversity.
Because his house was so near to the major television and radio stations, Gardood had a front-row seat to the violence. The RSF was defending the building against frequent fighter jet bombings, with consequent ground battles.
An eyewitness who lives near Gardood described the battle last night as “violent and intense,” adding that “fighter jets hovered over all night.”
But, as I saw, the fighting reduced a bit when Shaden was injured, and we only heard it from a distance after that.
According to the locals, Gardood died as a result of her injuries. Gardood’s daughter, Hamoudy, is 15 years old. Her mother and sister both lived to see another day.
Almost four weeks have gone since the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF clashed in Khartoum.
The RSF triggered the conflict in mid-April when they refused to join the Sudanese army as part of the country’s transition to civilian rule.
Hospitals have been forced to close owing to extreme food, water, and electricity shortages, and over 600 people have died and over 4,000 have been injured. Gardood and her family relocated to Khartoum from South Kordofan, a war zone in 2011.
She chanted for peace and security in her community as a Hakama, a traditional poet in western Sudan who inspires men to go to battle, and promotes the culture of her minority tribe, the al-Bagara, in South Kordofan.
Gardood was not simply a singer; he also researched the al-Bagara Melodies and conducted speeches about the Hakamas’ musical heritage’s history and continuing value. Many important persons have been killed in Khartoum in recent weeks, including 80-year-old Asia Abdelmajid, Sudan’s first professional actress.
Fozi el-Mardi, 72, was slain only a few days after his daughter was killed in a crossfire in Omdurman.
Throughout the first four days of the battle, ceasefires were declared at the request of regional powers, but none were observed. Fighter jets are still circling the whole city, and the battle hasn’t stopped.
