Sudan's armed forces and a powerful paramilitary force engaged in fierce fighting in the capital and other areas outside Khartoum for a second day Sunday, again shattering hopes for a transition to democracy and stoking fears of a wider conflict. According to media reports, dozens of civilians have been killed and hundreds injured in the clashes, which began Saturday morning.
The BBC reports among those killed are three employees of the World Food Programme (WFP). The aid workers were reportedly killed in North Darfur state.
The clashes are the culmination of months of tensions between the Sudanese military and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) group and a result of disagreements over the integration of the RSF into Sudan's armed forces between military commander Abdul Fattah al-Burhan and the commander of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The tensions have also delayed an agreement with political parties to return the country to its short-lived transition to democracy, which was derailed by a military coup in October 2021. A transitional civilian government was expected to be named in April.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and the head of the UN mission in the country, Volker Perthes, have strongly condemned the violence on Saturday, as further senior UN officials voiced concerns.
In a statement released by his spokesman, the Secretary-General called on “the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces to immediately cease hostilities, restore calm and initiate a dialogue to resolve the current crisis.”
“Any further escalation in the fighting will have a devastating impact on civilians and further aggravate the already precarious humanitarian situation in the country”, the statement warned.
Guterres also appealed to member states in the region to support efforts to restore order and return to the path of transition.
In a written statement, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan and Head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, also strongly condemned the eruption of fighting in Sudan.
According to the UN mission, Perthes has reached out to both parties, asking them for an immediate cessation of fighting to ensure the safety of the Sudanese people and to spare the country from further violence.
Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, and Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed concern about the development of the situation in remarks posted on a social network Saturday.
If the military confrontation continues, the security situation could worsen in Sudan, which would have a huge impact on the already fragile humanitarian, political and economic situation in the country.
Due to the complex crisis in Sudan, a third of the country’s population are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2023. The UN estimates that some 15.8 million people will require humanitarian aid across Sudan this year. Among them are 8.5 million children.
A quarter of Sudan's population - 11.7 million people - are severely food insecure. Over 3 million children under 5 currently suffer from acute malnutrition in the country, with an estimated 650,000 children under 5 suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
The growing humanitarian needs in Sudan are driven by political instability following the military takeover on October 25, 2021, a socioeconomic crisis, insecurity and violence, displacements, floods, drought and disease outbreaks.
According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), Sudan hosts about 1.2 million refugees, one of the largest refugee populations in Africa. Some 3.7 million Sudanese are internally displaced, mostly in the Darfur region that has experienced a volatile security situation since 2003. More than 800,000 Sudanese have fled to neighboring countries.
Further information
Full text: SRSG Perthes calls for the restoration of calm in Sudan, United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), press release, published April 15, 2023
https://unitams.unmissions.org/en/srsg-perthes-calls-restoration-calm-sudan-1
Full text: Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on Sudan, issued by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, published April 15, 2023
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2023-04-15/statement-attributable-the-spokesperson-for-the-secretary-general-%E2%80%93-sudan%C2%A0