Over the weekend, violent fighting broke out in the capital Khartoum between the paramilitary force RSF and the country’s regular army. Almost 100 civilians have been killed and 365 injured, according to the Sudan Medical Association BBC. Other reports claim that upwards of 1,100 people have been injured.
Now there is increasing concern that the fighting will lead to a full-scale civil war.
– This is what it looks like when a civil war starts. It’s two extremely potent military groups that have suddenly collided in the middle of a million city, says SVT’s Africa correspondent Johan Ripås in Morgonstudion.
The unrest has also spread to other places in the country.
– It is an extremely serious situation, says Johan Ripås.
WHO sounds the alarm
At the same time, the World Health Organization WHO sounds the alarm that “several of the nine hospitals in Khartoum” have begun to lack blood and important equipment. Doctors in the country have also warned that neither personnel nor equipment reach injured people.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed his concern about the situation. He wants to see an immediate ceasefire and calls on the military groups to return to the negotiating table.
The message is shared by British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
“Ultimately, Sudan’s immediate future lies in the hands of the generals involved in the conflict, and we urge them to put peace first, stop the fighting and continue to negotiate,” he said, according to Reuters.
Sent top diplomat
The African Union has announced that it will send top diplomat Moussa Faki Mahamat to Sudan in the hope of negotiating a ceasefire, writes the BBC.
The RSF and the regular army have jointly ruled Sudan since the military coup in 2021. This year they were supposed to hand over to a civilian government, but the groups have not agreed on how to carry out the transition, leading to the current conflict.
