As people in Sudan marked the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr on Friday, forces led by the two warring generals vying for control of the country ignored calls for a cease-fire and clashed across the country for a seventh day.
Sudanese civilian coalitions and international officials had called for a three-day pause in fighting to allow people to gather for the Eid holiday marking the end of Ramadan, to evacuate loved ones, and to seek food and medical care.
But residents in several neighborhoods in the capital, Khartoum, reported intense shelling and gunfights in the streets, and many across Sudan continued to face a desperate situation as they struggled to flee battle areas or get access to food and water. Up to 15,000 people have crossed the border from Sudan into neighboring Chad since the beginning of the conflict last Saturday, the International Rescue Committee also said on Friday.
“This is the worst Eid ever — for sure,” said Walaa Mirghani, a doctor who is sheltering in the Mamoura area of Khartoum.
For a city that has experienced coups, violent crackdowns on protesters, and even attacks from rebels, nothing topped the street-by-street fighting that has convulsed the capital in recent days, she said.
The fighting in her neighborhood Friday had been incessant since 6 a.m., she said, with huge explosions shaking the ground below. With only intermittent power and food and water supplies running low, she worried about the coming days.
“I believe we are going to witness a disaster,” Mirghani, 39, said.
At least 413 people have been killed and 3,551 others wounded in the clashes, according to the World Health Organization. At least nine children and several aid workers have lost their lives as a result of the fighting. And the State Department said on Thursday night that one American has been killed.
Repeating a pattern that has played out several times over the past week, the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, led by Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan, said it had agreed to comply with a cease-fire. But the head of Sudan’s army, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is also the country’s de facto leader, did not commit to the pause as he delivered his first public speech since the clashes began on Saturday. And both sides persisted with their assaults.
It remained unclear which of the two warring generals was in control of Sudan, Africa’s third-largest nation. Countries including the United States prepared to evacuate their citizens, including embassy personnel, though US officials said Friday no decision had yet been made on whether to do so, and a State Department spokesman, Vedant Patel, said Americans should have no expectation of a coordinated evacuation.
Al-Burhan maintained in his remarks that the military under his leadership was committed to a peaceful transition to civilian rule. But the army leader, who rose to power in 2019 when the former dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted from power, has derailed the country’s transition to democratic rule in the past.
In late 2021, he and Hamdan joined forces to carry out a coup that toppled the civilian prime minister and shattered a fragile power-sharing agreement between the military and civilians. But the two generals could not agree on a timeline for bringing the paramilitary forces under the umbrella of the army. This month, just as they were expected to sign a deal and hand over power to civilians, the forces of the two generals began clashing violently in Khartoum, the capital, and other cities.
Despite the latest calls for a cease-fire, al-Burhan said on Friday, “Your armed forces are advancing to defeat the rebels.”
At least 20 hospitals have shut their doors because of shelling or because of shortages of water, fuel, and supplies like oxygen and blood for transfusion, the UN body said.
Eight more facilities were also facing closure because of exhaustion among medical workers, the WHO added. The situation was particularly dire in Khartoum, where the warring parties have attacked hospitals and clinics and hijacked ambulances.