In view of the ongoing violence in Sudan, the organization Doctors Without Borders is planning to expand its aid. Emergency teams are ready to travel to the embattled country in the Horn of Africa, the organization said. They are in close contact with hospitals and the Sudanese health authorities.
Despite a ceasefire, fighting broke out again during the night in parts of the country. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 460 people were killed and almost 4,100 injured in the fighting, which began almost two weeks ago. The true number of victims is likely to be significantly higher.
In Sudan, de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is fighting his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo with the help of the military. He is the leader of the influential paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The two generals had taken over the leadership of the country with around 46 million inhabitants through two joint military coups in 2019 and 2021.
A ceasefire negotiated by the United States between the two parties to the conflict came into force on Tuesday night, but it still held sporadically. Both sides accuse each other of repeatedly breaking the ceasefire.
Bundeswehr well prepared
According to the commander, the Bundeswehr was also equipped with anti-tank weapons to secure its evacuation mission in the past few days. The forces were set up in such a way “that we could have picked up a fight and defended ourselves at any time and been able to hold out,” Major General Dirk Faust told the “Bild” newspaper on Wednesday. “We had all the skills needed to hold our own against stronger local enemy forces – from handguns to anti-tank capability.”
The Bundeswehr had brought more than 700 people from the north-east African country with their evacuation flights in the past few days, including 200 Germans. Faust said in the interview: “We didn’t have to leave the airport because the evacuees were supposed to come there. But we could have done it.” The airport is outside of the city. “That’s why we didn’t hear anything about combat operations,” said the commander of the Rapid Forces Division, who led the rescue operation. Referring to the condition of the evacuees, the major general said people were “incredibly tense and exhausted” after days of being threatened.
Situation in Khartoum worsens
The situation in the capital Khartoum is getting worse and worse. The aid organization SOS Children’s Villages announced on Wednesday that their facility there had been attacked by gunmen. The children and young people being looked after as well as the employees had to be evacuated.
The long-term ruler of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) by arrest warrant, who was overthrown jointly by the military and the RSF in 2019, is said to be staying in a military hospital in Khartoum and being guarded by the police, according to the army. The message could not be verified independently.
The 79-year-old, who ruled Sudan in an authoritarian manner for 30 years, was actually in Kobar prison in the capital after being convicted. According to media reports, the prison police released the prisoners over the weekend because they were unable to provide them with basic supplies. The whereabouts of al-Bashir remained a mystery for days.
The ICC has been looking for Al-Bashir since 2009 with an arrest warrant for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur conflict. For years there has been violence between the government and minorities of African descent in the western region of the country. Al-Bashir has been convicted of corruption in Sudan and is being tried for a coup at the beginning of his tenure in 1989.
