After days of relative calm, violent clashes between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) renewed in the capital Khartoum on Wednesday.
According to eyewitnesses, fierce clashes took place in Khartoum and around the Al-Halfaya bridge, which links Bahri and Omdurman, the adjacent cities of the capital.
Video footage obtained showed the army conducting intensive air bombardment against RSF military posts in the north of Bahri and deploying army convoys on the main streets.
The army admitted on Wednesday in a statement that it “carried out a wide combing operation in Bahri,” adding the operation resulted in “hundreds of deaths of rebel militia, destruction of dozens of armed vehicles and removal of many enemy checkpoints in the area.”
According to the statement, the armed forces “also successfully ambushed a group of the rebel militia in the south of Bahri, destroyed seven armed vehicles, and seized six others.”
The army called on the citizens to avoid areas of clashes, stay indoors, and take necessary precautions for their safety.
The RSF reacted by publishing video clips showing their response to an army attack on their positions in Bahri.
It claimed shooting down two army planes in Bahri and the seizure of military vehicles which the RSF said belonged to the army.
“The support forces are advancing in their battles against the coup forces in all axes in Khartoum, inflicting heavy losses on them in lives and equipment,” the RSF said in a statement on Wednesday.
Khartoum State Security Committee on Wednesday decided to submit urgent recommendations to Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the commander-in-chief of the army, which includes declaring a state of emergency, a curfew, and a general mobilization, in addition to taking urgent measures to tackle shortages of food materials and services in the state.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that more than 700,000 people were now displaced within Sudan’s territory, while UN statistics revealed at least 100,000 Sudanese have fled to neighboring countries for safety since the armed clashes broke out in mid-April.
According to the latest figures provided by the country’s health ministry in early May, the clashes have left at least 550 people dead.
Talks between the two warring parties to end the conflict and open humanitarian passages for aid delivery and evacuation from the war-torn country are currently underway in the Saudi city of Jeddah, with no major progress reported so far.
CURRENTPH NEWS SERVICE
