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Tag: Rapid Support Forces (RSF)

  • Sudan: Ceasefire has very little meaning – Sudanese cry out as fighting mar Eid festivities

    Sudan: Ceasefire has very little meaning – Sudanese cry out as fighting mar Eid festivities


    The 24-hour ceasefire that was agreed upon in Sudan has been violated, casting a shadow over the unique Eid al-Adha celebrations for the war-stricken people of Sudan, who have endured over 70 days of conflict.

    Reports from residents indicate that there were heavy gunfire sounds in certain areas of the capital, Khartoum, early on Wednesday.

    Additionally, the Sudanese army launched artillery and air strikes against positions held by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

    Negotiations between the conflicting parties are currently suspended, prolonging the uncertainty and tension in the region.

    Al Jazeera’s correspondent, Hiba Morgan, reporting from Omdurman, a city situated across the Nile from Khartoum, observed a lack of the usual festive atmosphere associated with Eid, as very few people were seen on the streets.

    Many fear the 17th ceasefire to be announced since the start of the conflict on April 15 is no guarantee of their safety after violations of the previous ceasefires.

    The heads of the army and RSF each announced a unilateral truce on Tuesday for Eid.

    “A ceasefire has very little meaning because, again, this Eid al-Adha [the Sudanese] can’t really celebrate,” Morgan said, adding that the peacetime mood of Eid has instead been replaced by sadness from people having lost family members or being displaced due to the conflict.

    Many do not have the financial capabilities to celebrate the holiday either.

    Thousands fleeing the conflict and waiting along the border with Egypt or those displaced from the western region of Darfur into neighboring Chad are not celebrating the festival after the ordeals they have been through.

    Sudan’s conflict has killed at least 2,000 civilians and wounded many more.

    The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated almost 2 million people have been displaced internally and more than 600,000 have fled to neighboring countries.

    Peace talks brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia have failed to make progress, and fighting has intensified in recent weeks as a result.

  • RSF accused of looting people’s homes in Khartoum

    RSF accused of looting people’s homes in Khartoum

    The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been accused of attempting to break into several homes in Sudan and loot.

    According to gender justice and democracy campaigner Hala Y Alkarib, she has been collecting testimony from friends and colleagues across the capital city, Khartoum.

    She asserts that the RSF lacks a supply chain and is therefore relying on looting.

    There is nobody to protect the people, she says, “because the Sudanese military and Sudanese police – both of them former partners of the RSF – are not quite oriented to provide or extend protections to civilians”.

    http://backend.theindependentghana.com/lack-of-water-and-light-in-sudan-as-combat-continues/

    With shops shut and power supplies intermittent at best, she says Khartoum’s inhabitants are at high risk – because many on the outskirts rely “100% on the informal economy” and people living in the centre used to have to leave the city to be able to put food on the table but now can’t.

    There is nowhere to go, because it’s actually way more dangerous to step out because there is no safe routes, there is no instructions from the military, in terms of where to go. There is no hotlines, it’s extremely random. Some people are trying to leave the city but it’s extremely complex because, from what we’re hearing, there is also pockets of fighting that’s extending around Khartoum,” Hala Y Alkarib Gender Justice and Democracy Campaigner added.

    http://backend.theindependentghana.com/the-two-generals-fighting-over-sudans-future/

    Meanwhile, Sudan’s army has rubbished claims by its paramilitary RSF rivals that a day-long ceasefire agreement had been reached, calling it mere propaganda.

    “We are not aware of any coordination with the mediators and the international community about a truce, and the rebellion’s declaration of a 24-hour truce aims to cover up the crushing defeat it will receive within hours,” a Sudan Armed Forces spokesman states on the Army Twitter page.

    “We have entered a critical phase and our efforts are focused on achieving its objectives at the operational level,” the army statement adds.