Air strikes have pummelled Khartoum, with representatives of Sudan’s warring factions meeting in Saudi Arabia for talks to prevent a “humanitarian catastrophe” as the fighting entered a fifth week.
According to international media reports, more than 750 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced since fighting erupted on April 15 between army chief Abdel Fattah al Burhan and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Over half a million people have fled Khartoum alone, according to the UN, with hospitals there shelled and rampant looting reported as residents suffer chronic shortages of food, electricity and medicine.
The representatives of the warring parties will resume talks on Sunday on how to implement plans to deliver humanitarian aid and remove troops from civilian areas.
The parties will remain in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah to start the next phase of the negotiations after agreeing on Thursday to the plan to protect civilians.
Civilians and aid groups have repeatedly pleaded for humanitarian corridors to secure vital assistance, as aid agencies have been systematically looted and at least 18 humanitarian workers killed.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed hopes the Jeddah deal would “ensure that the relief operation can scale up swiftly and safely to meet the needs of millions of people in Sudan”, where a third of the population relied on aid even before the current conflict.
Guterres also reiterated “his call for an immediate ceasefire and expanded discussions to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities”, in a Friday statement.
Source link: https://www.suchtv.pk/world/item/119747-blasts-rock-khartoum-as-sudan-fighting-enters-fifth-week.html