What is happening in Sudan, an African country shaken since April 15 by deadly fighting? Overview.
Sudan descended into chaos on April 15. The country is hostage to fighting between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, army chief and de facto ruler of Sudan since the 2021 putsch, and his number two Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (FSR).
“It’s the first time in the history of Sudan since independence that there is such a level of violence in the center, in Khartoum,” said Kholood Khair, who founded the Confluence Advisory research center.
“Today, the fighting is taking place all over the city, the RSF are established everywhere and especially in densely populated areas because the belligerents believed that the possibility of a high civilian toll would deter the other side: now we know that their struggle for power at all costs won, ”she summarizes.
Those who cannot leave Khartoum, a city of more than five million people, are trying to survive without water and electricity, subject to food shortages and telephone and internet blackouts.
A 72-hour ceasefire was reached Monday in Sudan between the warring parties under the aegis of the United States. “After intense negotiations,” the Sudanese military and the RSF “agreed to a nationwide ceasefire,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Taking advantage of this potential lull, up to 270,000 people could still flee to neighboring Chad and South Sudan, the UN warned on Tuesday.
Although several countries such as Germany and France have successfully established air bridges to evacuate their nationals – and nearly 150 Canadians to date – from Sudan, Canada is still waiting for “conditions permitting” before giving the green light for the two Hercules aircraft that have been deployed in the region.
Escaping the vast country by land or across the Red Sea isn’t easy, while airports are “highly strategic” targets, says Nicholas Coghlan, who was Canada’s first diplomatic chief-in-residence. in the Sudanese capital from 2000 to 2003.
