Despite a ceasefire that has been in effect since midnight, airstrikes broke out again on Tuesday in the capital region of Sudan, according to media reports. The city of Omdurman, which borders directly on the capital Khartoum, is said to have moved into focus.
A reporter from the German Press Agency reported that a hospital was also hit during the fighting. Already on Monday it was said that, according to diplomatic circles, the UN Security Council should meet for an emergency meeting on Tuesday afternoon New York time (probably around 9:00 p.m. CEST).
Evacuation flights continue
Meanwhile, evacuation flights of foreign nationals from Sudan continued on Tuesday. France reported having flown 538 people out of embattled Sudan. According to the Foreign Ministry, the Netherlands has so far evacuated around 120 people from the country in the Horn of Africa. According to information from the German Press Agency, the Bundeswehr is planning an appeal for the return of the emergency services to the Wunstorf air base in Lower Saxony for Friday.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) said Tuesday before the meeting of the SPD parliamentary group in Berlin that a sixth flight is expected to leave Sudan for Jordan in the evening. “Then that was it for the time being, as far as we have an overview. Everyone who was reachable was reached by the Foreign Office and made their way to the airport.” With the five evacuation flights so far, almost 500 people have been flown out, about a third of them Germans.
Heavy fighting broke out between the military and paramilitaries in Sudan more than a week ago. De facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is also the supreme commander of the army, wants to use the military to oust his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, the leader of the influential paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The two had taken over the leadership of the country with around 46 million inhabitants through two joint military coups in 2019 and 2021. According to WHO information, at least 460 people died and almost 4,100 were injured in the fighting. However, the true number is likely to be significantly higher.
Laboratory occupied with biological material
A report by the WHO also raised concern. Accordingly, a central medical laboratory was occupied by fighters, said a spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO). The employees were thrown out. Biological material is stored in the laboratory and must not be released under any circumstances, warned the WHO representative in Sudan, Nima Saeed Abiden. Medical care also came under increasing pressure.
A Red Cross materials store had been looted, reported Farid Aiywar, representative of the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Therefore, hospitals could hardly be supported with medicines and other material.