KHARTOUM: The death toll in Sudan from ongoing clashes between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has reached 83, while the number of injured totals 1,126, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Sunday.
The WHO in a statement called on the parties to respect impartiality in the delivery of healthcare services and to guarantee unrestricted access to healthcare facilities for those injured in the conflict.
Two family members of Sudanese Minerals Minister Mohamed Bashir were killed when rockets hit their home in the capital Khartoum during the clashes, reported Anadolu Agency.
Three other people were injured, including two bodyguards. Bashir escaped unharmed.
On Saturday, the Minerals Ministry building was also targeted.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said in a statement that the RSF targeted some buildings in the army headquarters in the capital and carried out an attack with snipers.
Calling for RSF members to hurry to join the army to serve their country, it said: “We know that RSF members who have served their country before are far from being a tool that will serve the goals and agenda of a single person. The country still needs your support.”
The situation will be resolved soon, it added.
A disagreement between the army and the RSF regarding military security reform, which envisages “the full participation of the RSF in the army,” had turned into a hot conflict in the last few months.
The dispute between the two sides came to the surface Thursday, when the army said recent movements by the RSF had occurred without coordination and were illegal, with their rift centring around a proposed transition to civilian rule.
Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a “coup.”
Sudan’s transitional period, which started in August 2019, was scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.
In Nairobi, East African leaders called for an immediate end to the ongoing fighting in Sudan where military clashes have killed at least 56 people and injured nearly 600 others.
The Kenyan Presidency said the leaders from the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), held an emergency virtual session on Sunday where they called for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the parties to the conflict in Sudan, reported Xinhua.
Those in the emergency session were President William Ruto of Kenya, Salva Kiir of South Sudan, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia.
“President William Ruto asked IGAD leaders to take a firm position on the crisis to restore peace in the country,” the presidency said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
The leaders resolved to send presidents Kiir, Ruto and Guelleh at the earliest possible time to reconcile the conflicting groups.
The leaders also asked the two parties to the conflict in Sudan to provide a safe corridor for humanitarian assistance in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, and other affected towns.
Violent clashes erupted on Saturday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and other cities, where the two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict.
Deep differences have emerged between the Sudanese army and the RSF, particularly regarding the latter’s integration into the army as stipulated in a framework agreement signed between military and civilian leaders on Dec 5, 2022.
Meanwhile in Rome, the head of the Rome-based United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Sunday that the organisation would temporarily halt its humanitarian activities in Sudan, a day after three employees were killed in the country.
WFP executive director Cindy McCain said she was “appalled and heartbroken” by the deaths, which took place in the Kabkabiya district of the North Darfur state in Sudan.
In a statement, McCain confirmed reports that the workers were killed “while carrying out their lifesaving duties on the front lines of the global hunger crisis”. She also said two other WFP workers were injured in the same attack.
The deceased workers were all Sudan nationals, according to media reports.
In a separate incident that also took place on Saturday, an aircraft belonging to WFP’s Humanitarian Air Service was seriously damaged at Khartoum International Airport, WFP said.
“Any loss of life in humanitarian service is unacceptable and I demand immediate steps to guarantee the safety of those who remain,” McCain said. “Aid workers are neutral and should never be a target. Threats to our teams make it impossible to operate safely and effectively in the country and carry out WFP’s critical work.”
McCain said that WFP would temporarily halt all its activities in Sudan while reviewing the security situation in the war-torn country, reported Xinhua.
“WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people who are facing dire food insecurity,” McCain said. “But we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed.”
Sudan’s Central Doctors’ Committee said that at least 56 civilians had been killed while 595 more have been injured, among them soldiers who are in critical condition.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday strongly condemned the outbreak of fighting between the two forces, said his spokesman, and called on the two sides to immediately cease hostilities. – BERNAMA-AGENCIES
