Europe News Desk!! The death toll in the violent clashes in Sudan has risen to 270. In fact, violent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) resumed after attempts at a cease-fire failed. First on April 15, near the army command and presidential palace in the capital Khartoum, and near two RSF bases in the north and west, heavy shelling continued into Wednesday morning, with explosions and the roar of warplanes. The LAF and the RSF had agreed to a three-hour ceasefire first on Sunday and again on Monday, with the latest ceasefire scheduled to start at 6 pm on Tuesday. The World Health Organization (WHO), citing Sudan’s Ministry of Health Emergency Operations Center, said that more than 2,600 people were injured in the violence.
At least half a dozen hospitals have been attacked by both warring sides, according to Sudan’s doctors’ trade union. Meanwhile, armed personnel have raided the homes of UN staff and other international organizations in the city of Khartoum, according to an internal UN document seen by CNN. According to the documents, the gunmen sexually assaulted women and stole cars and other items. In Khartoum, armed uniformed personnel of the RSF are reportedly entering migrants’ homes, separating men and women and taking them away, the report said. RSF has denied the allegations. It told CNN that it would never attack a UN employee. RSF is conscious of respecting international law.
The statement blamed the opposition in the fighting, led by Sudan’s military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan: this is Burhan’s army’s desperate new way of fighting. They provide their men with RSF uniforms so that they can commit crimes against civilians and other groups including embassies and the United Nations, and damage the image and perspective of RSF both internationally and locally. On its part, the SAF also denied that their troops were involved in the violations and pointed to previous statements regarding anti-humanity crimes allegedly committed by RSF forces. Shortages of medical supplies, blood and electricity are threatening life-saving treatments, and 11 people have died from injuries in North Darfur, according to the health NGO Doctors Without Borders. Various foreign leaders have called for peace. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately with Burhan and Dagalo.
–IANS
World News Desk!! PK/AKJ