Fightings continued to rock Khartoum on Saturday, May 13 as the situation in Sudan remains deadlocked. Negotiations, including for the passage of humanitarian aid, have not yet materialized.
Air strikes pummelled Khartoum Saturday, with representatives of Sudan’s warring factions meeting in Saudi Arabia for talks to prevent a “humanitarian catastrophe” as the fighting entered a fifth week.
A witness in west Khartoum reported army air strikes on paramilitary forces, as brutal urban warfare continued in Sudan’s densely-populated capital.
More than 750 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced since fighting erupted on April 15 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Over half a million people have fled Khartoum alone, according to the UN, with hospitals there having been shelled and rampant looting reported as residents suffer under chronic shortages of food, electricity and medicine.
Representatives of both generals have been in the Saudi city of Jeddah for a week, for talks intended “to protect Sudan from any escalation that will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe”, a Saudi diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
The diplomat also said Burhan had been invited to attend the Arab League summit planned to take place in Jeddah on May 19 but it was unclear who would be representing Sudan.
However the deal, dubbed the Jeddah Declaration, did not amount to a truce and the situation on the ground appeared unchanged as battles raged throughout the week of negotiations and into Saturday.
Thursday’s deal commits both sides to let in badly needed humanitarian assistance and also calls for the restoration of electricity, water and other basic services.
Sudan launched on Saturday a call to the international community, including the United Nations, the African Union, and other regional organisations, “to provide humanitarian assistance”, a foreign ministry statement said.
Civilians and aid groups have repeatedly pleaded for humanitarian corridors to secure vital assistance, as aid agencies have been systematically looted and at least 18 humanitarian workers killed.
Almost 200,000 people have escaped Sudan, in addition to hundreds of thousands who have been displaced inside the country, the UN said Friday.
Malo Pinatel, with AFP