Sudan’s warring military factions clashed in the capital on Tuesday, exacerbating residents’ misery.
In its eighth week, the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have killed hundreds of civilians, driven 400,000 across borders, and displaced over 1.2 million people from the capital and other cities.
Saudi Arabia and the United States negotiated shaky cease-fires in exchange for humanitarian aid. However, talks broke down last week, and delegations are still in Jeddah without direct talks.
Battles, air strikes, and looting have wreaked havoc on the capital.
Residents in southern and eastern Khartoum and northern Bahri heard gunfire and artillery on Tuesday morning as artillery and air strikes continued overnight.
The two sides fought in Omdurman’s streets around the army’s Engineers Corps base overnight. The army, which prefers air strikes to ground combat, held its positions around the base but was unable to defeat the RSF, which controls the majority of the city.
Our neighborhood is a war zone. “Our house is next to the Engineers’ Corps, so there are fierce clashes and strikes,” Jawahir Mohamed, 45, explained.
“We’re afraid of dying, but also of leaving our house and being robbed,” she explained.
RSF looters, according to Khartoum residents and neighborhood committees, have pillaged neighborhoods, stealing cars, breaking safes, and occupying homes.
Residents of Khartoum face electricity, water, and pharmacy shortages, making it difficult for aid organizations to assist.
As the fighting has become more intense, neighborhood-based resistance committees have struggled to organize such assistance.
“We couldn’t distribute medicines because of the air and artillery bombardment,” one activist, who asked to remain anonymous, explained.
Fighting has spread to Darfur, the birthplace of the RSF. El Obeid, another important Khartoum-Darfur route, was also attacked.
