Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3-minute read
20 April 2023 | 17:09 CAT

Photo Credit: CNN

Fierce clashes erupted on Saturday between Sudan’s armed forces and a robust civil group, following days of tensions between the two forces.

The sound of heavy gunfire could be heard across the capital, Khartoum, and its sister town of Omdurman, where the military and the Rapid Support Forces( RSF) have amassed tens of thousands of troops since an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan’s fragile path to democracy.

Warplanes were roaring in the skies above Khartoum. A Reuters journalist heard tanks firing shortly after the truce was due to take hold, and an occupant told Reuters he heard an air strike being carried out in Omdurman, Khartoum’s sister city on the contrary bank of the Nile River. Several substantiations reported a large army ground force entering the city from the east.

Sudanese political commentator, Dr Abdul- Karim Elgoni bandied with the broader circumstances in Sudan with Radio Islam International.

He said the condition of the Sudanese people is far worse than what’s seen, as there’s no verification of the information with nonstop fighting and people being locked in their homes.

Middle East Eye reported the military’s mercenary interlocutors called on both sides” to incontinently cease conflict and spare the country slipping into the ocean of total collapse.”

A ceasefire call also came from former high minister Abdalla Hamdok who was ousted in the coup, later reinstated, and abnegated.

Their plea was echoed by US Ambassador John Godfrey, who tweeted that he” woke up to the deeply disturbing sounds of gunfire and fighting” and was” presently sheltering in place with the embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing”.

Tensions between the military and the RSF have escalated in recent weeks over disputes concerning the integration of the RSF into the military and disputes over what authority should oversee the process.

The integration is called for in a frame deal for naming a mercenary government and launching a new transition.

The power struggle has doubly forced a delay in signing the internationally backed agreement, initially listed for 1 April.

Listen to the full interview with Host Moulana Ebrahim Moosa on Radio Islam’s podcast.