The war in Sudan continues to escalate despite a three-day US-brokered ceasefire that went into effect early Tuesday.
The army said it had agreed to hold talks in Juba, the capital of neighboring South Sudan, on extending the truce, which expires Thursday night.
There have been multiple attempts at a truce since fighting broke out on April 15 between Sudan’s regular army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by his former subordinate and now enemy Mohamed.” Hemedti” Hamdan Daglo. They have all failed.
Beyond the capital, fighting has broken out in the provinces, particularly in the war-torn western region of Darfur. Fighting between the army and the RSF continued for a second day in the western Darfur capital, Geneina, forcing civilians to flee towards the nearby Chadian border, witnesses said. On Wednesday, the United Nations humanitarian agency reported killings, looting and arson in Geneina.
“An estimated 50,000 acutely malnourished children have had nutritional support interrupted due to fighting,” the UN said in a statement.
The death toll in the conflict continued to rise. At least 512 people died and 4,193 were injured when the armed actions reached 13 days, according to figures from the Ministry of Health, although they are likely to be much higher.
The fighting has trapped many civilians in their homes. They lack food, water and electricity. Communications have been interrupted. The UN has warned that up to 270,000 people could flee to Sudan’s poorer neighbours, South Sudan and Chad.
Other Sudanese have sought refuge in Egypt to the north and Ethiopia to the east; but both involve long and potentially dangerous journeys overland. The UN said it “received reports of tens of thousands of people arriving in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan.”
Foreign governments have taken advantage of the fragile truce to organize road convoys, flights and boats to get thousands of their citizens out of Sudan. But some have warned that their evacuation efforts are contingent on a lull in the fighting.
China deployed warships on Thursday to evacuate its citizens.
