Sudan: heavy fighting erupts, shattering latest ceasefire

Heavy fighting erupted in several parts of Sudan’s capital on Wednesday June as a three-day ceasefire between rival military factions expired, casting doubt on peaceful transition plans.

The bitter military rivalry between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been battling each other for more than two months, wreaked destruction on the capital and in the western region of Darfur, forcing 2.5-million people to flee their homes.

The ceasefire was the latest of several truce deals brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States at talks in the Saudi seaside city of Jeddah. As with previous ceasefires, there were reports of violations by both warring factions. The conflict in Sudan erupted two months ago amid disputes over internationally backed plans for a transition away from military rule.

In the face of fierce fighting in Khartoum, Darfur and other parts of Sudan, many people have found refuge in makeshift camps set up in schools, university dormitories and other buildings in a Blue Nile river town, Wad Madani, in a cotton farming region of Al-Jazirah state. Though serving as a relative sanctuary from the fighting, survivors living there endure overcrowding, disease, and creeping hunger. They are among hundreds of thousands who have run for their lives since the war erupted in mid-April. Basic services are scarce in the region, which is now sweltering in summer heat and frequent rainy season downpours. Humanitarian aid groups long active in Sudan have been overwhelmed, and at times targeted, in the war.

For years millions of Sudanese relied on aid, and now food shortages are becoming ever more dire. According to the U.N. children’s agency, some 620,000 Sudanese children now suffer from acute malnutrition, and half of them could die if they do not receive help soon.