Sudan Fighting Resurges, Disrupting Ceasefire

Fighting Continues in Sudan Despite Ceasefire

Despite a ceasefire declaration by the warring factions, fighting has erupted once again in Sudan. The Sudan Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, but gunfire and explosions could still be heard in Khartoum’s sister cities. The fighting has turned residential areas into battlefields, with air strikes and artillery killing hundreds of people and destroying hospitals. The ceasefire “seems to be holding in some parts so far,” said U.N. special envoy on Sudan, Volker Perthes, but neither party is ready to seriously negotiate.

Former Sudanese Minister Released from Prison

Former Sudanese Minister Ahmed Haroun, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, has been released from prison. Haroun and other officials served under ex-President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2019. The ICC has accused Haroun of organizing militias to attack civilians in a genocide in Darfur in 2003 and 2004. The whereabouts of Bashir are not immediately clear.

Concerns Over Biological Hazards

The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about potential biological hazards from measles and cholera pathogens for vaccinations stored in a national health facility in Khartoum, which has been taken over by one of the warring parties. An exodus of embassies and aid workers from Sudan has raised fears that civilians who remain will be in greater danger if the shaky three-day truce deal, which expires on Thursday, does not hold.

Civilians Feel Forsaken

As foreign governments evacuate their nationals, those with nowhere to go said they feel forsaken. “Why is the world abandoning us at a time of war?” said Sumaya Yassin, 27, accusing foreign powers of being selfish. With civilians leaving Khartoum in cars and buses, the streets of one of Africa’s biggest metropolitan areas were largely emptied of ordinary daily life. Those still in the city huddled at home while fighters roamed outside.

• The ceasefire is partially holding, but fighting has erupted once again in Sudan.
• Former Sudanese Minister Ahmed Haroun, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, has been released from prison.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about potential biological hazards from measles and cholera pathogens for vaccinations stored in a national health facility in Khartoum.
• Civilians feel forsaken as foreign governments evacuate their nationals.