New battles in Khartoum and Darfur, Sudan

Battles erupted between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Monday, a conflict that has been ongoing for four months in various areas of Khartoum and the Darfur region, according to residents.

These residents reported hearing "intense airstrikes and powerful explosions" in the capital.

In southern Darfur, witnesses informed Agence France-Presse that residents awoke to "the sounds of artillery and continued fleeing from the city," which is under attack by the RSF forces.

A medical source from Nyala, the second-largest city in Sudan, stated to Agence France-Presse, "Despite difficulties in reaching Nyala Hospital due to the shelling, we received 66 injured on Sunday, six of whom have since died."

Darfur, a region that witnessed a civil war in the early years of this century, is considered a stronghold of the Rapid Support Forces. The battles have been concentrated in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, where "crimes against humanity" are believed to have occurred, according to the United Nations.

Multiple sources have reported massacres against civilians and ethnically motivated assassinations, which are suspected to be carried out by the Rapid Support Forces and allied Arab militias.

On the other side of the border, in the town of Adré in eastern Chad, "more than 358,000 refugees have arrived" since the conflict began on April 15, according to Médecins Sans Frontières.

The non-governmental organization expressed concern about these camps, which "are not equipped to receive all the people being transported there. 

Consequently, they are exposed to the sun and rain, lack sufficient food and water, and even cooking equipment. The needs are immense, while resources are extremely limited," explained Susanna Burgess, Emergency Coordinator at Médecins Sans Frontières in Chad.

The conflict in Sudan has claimed the lives of at least 3,900 people in the past four months.

Sudanese army Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, appeared on state television on Monday in a rare video denouncing "the biggest conspiracy in modern history" against Sudan. He promised to soon celebrate the "decisive victory over this rebellious uprising," led by his rival Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Experts, however, anticipate that the war will continue for an extended period.



AFP