At least 97 Sudanese civilians have been killed and 365 others have been injured since fighting erupted between the military and paramilitary forces, a doctors’ union said, reported The Guardian.
Clashes between the country’s military led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, first erupted on Saturday.
The two military leaders are former allies who jointly led an October 2021 military coup that postponed Sudan’s short-lived transition to democracy. The country has been run by military generals since a coup overthrew the long-serving president, Omar al-Bashir, in 2019.
In recent months, the military and the RSF had made progress towards the formation of a new civilian-led transitional government. But the groups disagreed on the timeline for the absorption of the paramilitary force into the regular army. They are yet to finalize plans to include the 100,000-strong RSF in the army and who would then lead the new force.
The divisions delayed the signing of a final political deal aimed at re-establishing civilian rule by 11 April.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) suspended operations in the country after three of its employees were killed in clashes in Darfur.
On Sunday, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional bloc said it plans to send the presidents of Kenya, South Sudan, and Djibouti to Sudan to reconcile the Sudanese groups fighting, Kenyan President William Ruto’s office said on Twitter.
“IGAD resolved to send Presidents Kiir, President Ruto, and President Guelleh at the earliest possible time to reconcile the conflicting groups,” Ruto’s office said.
The African Union Commission also announced on Sunday that the organization’s head, Moussa Faki Mahamat, is planning to immediately go on a ceasefire mission to Sudan. The AU has been meeting to discuss the situation in Sudan.
