Strikes, explosions continue in Khartoum despite truce talks
Khartoum, May 13 (EFE).- The Sudanese military on Saturday continued airstrikes against positions of paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum, with the RSF responding with anti-aircraft guns, despite the agreement signed by the two sides in Saudi Arabia for a new humanitarian truce.
Eyewitnesses in the Sudanese capital told EFE that military bombers struck the alleged positions of the RAF from the early hours of the morning in the center of Khartoum and south of the neighboring city of Omdurman, where anti-aircraft batteries could be heard firing.
They also claimed that similar attacks and bombings took place on the outskirts of eastern Khartoum, where massive explosions could be heard, possibly due to the impact of missiles fired by warplanes.
None of the parties, which have been fighting each other since Apr. 15, has commented on the latest clashes, but the military announced on Friday that it killed around 100 RAF fights in strikes carried out by warplanes south of the capital.
Both the forces have accused each other of jeopardizing civilians’ lives, attacking or occupying hospitals and other non-military establishments as well as violating the repeated humanitarian ceasefire.
The last such truce ended on Thursday without being extended.
On the same day, the military and the RAF signed a preliminary agreement in the Saudi port city of Jeddah to allow the flow of international aid and protect civilians and humanitarian workers.
The mediators – Saudi Arabia and the United States, helped by the United Nations – have said that they expect to achieve a fresh 10-day truce in the next round of negotiations with the warring parties.
More than 600 civilians have died and over 5,000 have been wounded in the conflict in Sudan, apart from as many as 200,000 people – mostly women and children – getting displaced, according to the United Nations. EFE
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