Battles continued between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in the capital, Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan, and while the United Nations said that about 200,000 people were displaced last week alone, China and South Korea announced the provision of humanitarian aid to Sudan.
Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that army warplanes targeted sites of the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum North. The rapid support ground anti-aircraft tried to confront it.
In Omdurman, artillery shelling was renewed in several locations, while intermittent clashes erupted in the center and south of Omdurman.
In Darfur, Reuters quoted sources monitoring the conflict in Sudan as saying that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces took control of a town in South Darfur, causing clashes, looting and the start of a new wave of displacement.
Clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army around the town of Kass have caused some 5,000 families to flee, some from camps for the displaced, according to a tracking system run by the International Organization for Migration.
A new emergence of proof
In a related context, recent photos showed the head of the Sovereignty Council in Sudan, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, while chairing a meeting of the Supreme Command of the Sudanese Armed Forces in the capital, Khartoum.
And the head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, appeared yesterday evening, Monday, carrying a machine gun, a pistol and a hand grenade, as he chaired a military meeting at the army’s command and control center in the center of the capital, Khartoum, as the clashes with the Rapid Support Forces entered their fourth month.
Al-Burhan’s last appearance was on June 28, during a televised speech on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, preceded by another appearance on May 30, while he was inspecting the forces stationed in some locations in Khartoum, according to an army statement.
The armed forces published a video clip, Al-Burhan, hours after an audio recording of the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Muhammad Hamdan Hamidti, in which he said that despite the victories achieved by his forces, he is ready to accept the option of a political solution.
Hamidti added that the war, which exceeded 3 months, doubled the suffering of the Sudanese, especially in Khartoum and Darfur.
international concern
Internationally, the United Nations Transitional Support Mission in Sudan has expressed its concern about the fighting taking place between the Sudanese army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu in South Kordofan state.
In a press circular, the mission urged the fighting parties to immediately stop military operations in order to calm the situation, prevent an expansion of the conflict and resume negotiations.
The statement reminded all parties of their obligations, under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, to ensure the safety of all civilians.
For his part, the spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations said that the figures of the International Organization for Migration confirm the displacement of 2.6 million people inside Sudan since the beginning of the conflict, while the number of those who fled outside the country reached 730 thousand people who crossed the borders to neighboring countries.
Earlier, the US-based Sudan Conflict Observatory said that the Rapid Support Forces and loyal forces carried out an attack aimed at destroying at least 26 tribal communities in the Darfur region, forcing at least 668,000 civilians to flee since mid-April.
Asian aid
Humanitarian, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that it will provide humanitarian aid to Sudan worth 10 million yuan, or about $1.5 million, in addition to about 900 tons of food aid next August.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry added – in a statement – that Sudan is currently going through a difficult period, and it urgently needs support and assistance from the international community.
In turn, the South Korean Red Cross Society announced today, Tuesday, that it would provide aid worth $466,000 to Sudan.
The South Korean news agency “Yonhap” stated that the association took the decision to provide the aid after a discussion with the International Committee of the Red Cross, at the request of the Sudanese embassy in Seoul.
The agency indicated that the funds provided will be used to provide kits, medical equipment and medicines for hospitals in the affected areas in Sudan, in addition to foodstuffs and daily necessities for the displaced and children affected by the armed conflict.
The army and Rapid Support exchange accusations of starting the fighting since April 15, and of committing violations during a series of armistices that did not succeed in putting an end to the clashes.
With the battles entering its fourth month, the outcome of Sudan’s clashes has exceeded 3,000 dead, most of them civilians, and about 3 million displaced persons and refugees inside and outside the country, according to the Ministry of Health and the United Nations.
