As
people in Sudan marked the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr on
Friday, forces led by the two warring generals vying for control of the
country ignored calls for a cease-fire and clashed across the country
for a seventh day.
Sudanese civilian
coalitions and international officials had called for a three-day pause
in fighting to allow people to gather for the Eid holiday marking the
end of Ramadan, to evacuate loved ones and to seek food and medical
care.
But residents in several
neighborhoods in the capital, Khartoum, reported intense shelling and
gunfights in the streets, and many across Sudan continued to face a
desperate situation as they struggled to flee battle areas or get access
to food and water. Up to 15,000 people have crossed the border from
Sudan into neighboring Chad since the beginning of the conflict last
Saturday, the International Rescue Committee also said on Friday.
“This is the worst Eid ever — for sure,” said Walaa Mirghani, a doctor who is sheltering in the Mamoura area of Khartoum.
For a city that has experienced coups, violent crackdowns on protesters and even attacks from rebels, nothing topped the street-by-street fighting that has convulsed the capital in recent days, she said.
Fleeing a neighborhood in southern Khartoum on Friday.Credit...Ebrahim Hamid/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The
fighting in her neighborhood Friday had been incessant since 6 a.m.,
she said, with huge explosions shaking the ground below. With only
intermittent power and food and water supplies running low, she worried
about the coming days.
“I believe we are going to witness a disaster,” Ms. Mirghani, 39, said.
At
least 413 people have been killed and 3,551 others wounded in the
clashes, according to the World Health Organization. At least nine children
and several aid workers have lost their lives as a result of the
fighting. And the State Department said on Thursday night that one
American has been killed.
Repeating a
pattern that has played out several times over the past week, the Rapid
Support Forces paramilitary group, led by Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, said
that it had agreed to comply with a cease-fire. But the head of Sudan’s
army, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is also the country’s de facto
leader, did not commit to the pause as he delivered his first public
speech since the clashes began on Saturday. And both sides persisted
with their assaults.
It remained unclear which of the two warring generals was in control of Sudan, Africa’s third-largest nation. Countries including the United States prepared to evacuate their citizens, including embassy personnel, though U.S. officials said Friday no decision had yet been made on whether to do so.