Sudan awakens with fighting on first day of Eid
Khartoum, Apr 21 (EFE).- Sudan awoke Friday to the sound of shooting and shelling on the first day of Eid al Fitr, which ends the holy month of Ramadan, with international calls to adhere to a three-day truce while the religious festival lasts.
The Central Committee of Doctors said there was shooting and exchange of fire between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, two military rivals that have been facing each other since Saturday and have left Sudan in one of its worst crises in its recent history.
“We call on all citizens to take precautions, stay at home, close doors and windows, and lie down on the ground. We also call on these forces to be responsible and immediately stop fighting to protect the lives of innocent people,” the independent committee said in a brief statement on its official website.
The paramilitaries said in a communique the army launched bombardments and heavy artillery against the neighborhoods of Khartoum during the first day of Eid.
The army has not given its part of the offensive, although military leader Abdelfatah al Burhan made a speech this morning on the occasion of the religious festival, the first he has made since the start of hostilities.
“We are confident we will overcome this ordeal with wisdom and strength, in a way that preserves the security and unity of the country and allows us to ensure a transition to civilian rule,” he said.
The clashes broke out Saturday amid talks on a reform of the army and the integration of the paramilitary into it, part of the political process to return Sudan to the democratic path after the 2021 coup by Al Burhan and paramilitary group leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti.”
The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, called for an immediate truce Thursday of at least three days in the country.
The Sudanese army said Thursday it continued its “constant rejection to enter into negotiations” with the paramilitaries, adding that agreeing to a truce is not synonymous with wanting to make peace.
The latest death toll in Sudan stands at nearly 330 people killed and about 3,200 injured as a result of clashes between the rival military, according to the World Health Organization. EFE
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