Khartoum residents decried the declarations truce as meaningless amid reports of shelling, air raids and anti-aircraft fire
Yousif Ibrahim Abubaker Abdalla
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it mediated between Sudan’s warring sides to facilitate the release of more than 100 prisoners of war. Sudan has been gripped by violence since April 15 when a power struggle between the heads of the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) exploded into a vicious war that has killed thousands of people and forced millions from their homes. The ICRC said on Thursday a total of 125 army soldiers held by the RSF were able to return to their families before Eid al-Adha, one of the biggest holidays in the Islamic calendar.
Among them were 44 wounded, the organization said. The group was taken from Khartoum to Wad Madani, south of the capital. Similarly, 14 wounded were released on Monday with the help of the ICRC in the flashpoint region of Darfur, in the west of the country. “This positive step means that families will be celebrating Eid-al Adha with their loved ones,” said Jean Christophe Sandoz, the ICRC’s head of delegation in Sudan. “We stand ready to act as a neutral intermediary for the release of detainees from all sides of the conflict whenever requested.”
The ICRC maintains strict neutrality in armed conflicts with the aim of caring for victims. It visits prisoners on both sides of conflicts and helps them stay in contact with their families. It also organizes the release or exchange of prisoners at the request of parties to the conflict, as in this case.
This week, both Sudan’s army and the RSF announced “unilateral” ceasefires for Eid al-Adha, but Khartoum residents decried the declarations as meaningless amid reports of shelling, air raids and anti-aircraft fire. Multiple ceasefire deals have failed to stick, including several brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States at suspended talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah. Multiple ceasefires and international mediation efforts have failed to stop the conflict from escalating. People walk among scattered objects in the market of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, as fighting continues in Sudan. Fighting surges in Khartoum as Sudan war enters 11th week.
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces say it seized headquarters of heavily armed police unit in southern Khartoum. Air raids hit Sudan’s capital despite Eid truce. Wednesday, June 7, 2023. Saudi Arabia and the United States have urged Sudan’s warring parties to agree to and “effectively implement” a cease-fire as the fighting in the northeastern African nation showed no signs of abating. The United Nations mission in Sudan stressed the need for both SAF and RAF parties to maintain the Eid ceasefire. Air raids and anti-aircraft fire struck Sudan’s capital Khartoum according to residents, despite warring parties declaring truces for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that started in April has caused a major humanitarian crisis and displaced nearly 2.8 million people, of which almost 650,000 have fled to neighboring countries. The three cities that make up the wider capital around the confluence of the River Nile Khartoum, Khartoum North and Omdurman have seen more than 10 weeks of heavy clashes and looting, while the conflict has triggered a resurgence of ethnically motivated killings in the western region of Darfur.
Sudanese pilgrims pray for peace back home “A the same time, the RSF and allied militias remain accountable for violence against civilians, rape and looting in the areas they control, including in Khartoum, and ethnically targeted violence against civilians in Darfur”, the mission said in a statement. The SAF remains accountable for attacks in civilian populated areas, including aerial bombardments of residential areas in Khartoum.” The conflict broke out amid disputes about what powers they would retain under an internationally backed plan for a transition to civilian rule.
In 2003, former President Omar al-Bashir armed and unleashed the RSF’s predecessor, the government-back militia called “Janjaweed” by rebels, against Darfur’s non-Arab ethnic minorities. The United Nations says 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced in the Darfur conflict, which erupted in the vast western region in 2003. Since April, more than 170,000 people have fled Darfur into neighboring Chad, according to the UN refugee agency. A total of almost 645,000 people have sought refuge outside Sudan, according to the latest International Organization for Migration data, with about 2.2 million more displaced within the country. 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.
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A poet and writer from Omdurman Umbda –Sudan, Yousif Ibrahim Abubaker works as an English Instructor, Trainer and Freelance Interpreter. He also has been working as a debate leader discussing various topics in many English Institutes, Centers, Academy and schools. He represents Sindh Courier as Honorary Correspondent in Sudan.
