Battles raged to control weapons and fuel depots in Khartoum
In a new development of the battles taking place between the Sudanese army and the “Quick Support Forces”, fierce fighting broke out, on Wednesday, around the army’s Yarmouk complex for weapons and ammunition in the south of Khartoum, near fuel and gas depots that are at risk of explosion. On Wednesday, a massacre was also witnessed as a result of the bombing of a market in Omdurman, which led to the death of 12 civilians, and damage to buildings and property.
Witnesses said that the paramilitary “rapid support” forces, which are engaged in a power struggle against the army, for the eighth week, attacked the area that includes the Yarmouk complex late on Tuesday evening, before they withdrew after fierce fighting. Clashes continued until Wednesday morning.
The incident coincided with an air strike by the army’s warplanes on areas south of the city of Omdurman, which left a number of civilians dead and injured, according to a statement issued by the Resistance Committee in the region.
Eyewitnesses told Asharq Al-Awsat that the clashes had renewed between the two parties since the early morning, in the vicinity of the Yarmouk complex and the surrounding areas, and a state of back-and-forth prevailed among the residential neighborhoods. The areas south of Khartoum and north of Omdurman also witnessed battles, and citizen Muhammad Al-Mustafa said that the military confrontations extended to the “Kalakla” suburb, and resulted in civilian casualties who could not be treated in the midst of an exchange of gunfire.
The Muwaileh massacre
The resistance committees in the central “Salha” area in the city of Omdurman (a youth organization) said that the “Al-Muwaileh” area, west of “Salha” (in the north), was bombed by air forces on Wednesday morning, targeting part of the gatherings of the “Rapid Support” forces camped near the area. . It added in a statement that the bombing killed 12 citizens, including 4 from the same family, and injured others with serious and varying injuries, in addition to causing damage to the citizens’ property as the air raids targeted a number of livestock pens, which led to the death of large numbers of camels and cows. The committees’ statement indicated that the overflights are still continuing in the area, calling on civilians to exercise caution and caution, to take cover in homes, and to move away from areas of clashes and armed confrontations between the army and the “quick support.”
Mutual accusations
On the other hand, official sources confirmed the occurrence of new attacks on the embassies of China and Palestine, and the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed the finger of blame at the “rapid support” forces, noting that support groups stormed the embassies of China and Palestine and the house of the Omani ambassador in the center of the capital, Khartoum, and considered it a flagrant violation of international law. And the customs related to the sanctity and protection of the headquarters and property of diplomatic missions.
The Information Department and the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the Rapid Support Forces stole diplomatic cars belonging to the Chinese embassy, and tampered with documents and vandalized embassy furniture. The statement added that the Rapid Support Forces also stormed the headquarters of the Palestinian embassy and the home of the Palestinian ambassador for the fourth time, and tortured the local workers there.
The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated its condemnation of this behavior, which it described as “terrorist and criminal”, calling on the international community to condemn these practices, to consider the “rapid support” forces as a terrorist organization, and to hold them legal and moral responsibility for these actions.
However, a member of the advisory office of the commander of the “rapid support” forces, Mustafa Mohamed Ibrahim, accused the Sudanese army of training people to carry out looting and looting in the areas controlled by the “rapid support” forces in Khartoum and other cities.
Ibrahim denied that the Rapid Support Forces looted and robbed embassies and destroyed their contents, accusing these people of carrying out these actions to attach them to the Rapid Support Forces, adding that many of them had been arrested.
Commenting on the bombing of the “Al-Muwaileh” area, Ibrahim said that “witnesses confirmed that a plane flew over the market before it was bombed,” noting that “(the Rapid Support Forces) are not present in this area, and they do not have planes.” He accused the Sudanese army of “bombing markets and civilian areas north of Omdurman with the aim of evacuating them and using them for military purposes.”
Doctors killed
In addition, the “Sudan Doctors Committee” said that about 18 male and female doctors have been shot dead, or are trapped in their homes, since the outbreak of the war in mid-April.
The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) said in a press circular that the clashes continued between the army and the “rapid support” forces, and that the situation in the three cities of the Sudanese capital (Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri) is of great concern.
In a briefing on the state of war in the country issued yesterday, she added that the situation in West, Central and North Darfur continues to deteriorate, affecting civilians, including women and children, many of whom are trapped between the two warring parties.
The mission indicated that human rights officials documented dozens of incidents, including killings, arrests, possible disappearances, attacks on hospitals, sexual violence, and other grave violations against children, committed by both sides of the conflict. The mission confirmed that the “Office for the Protection of Civilians” in the UN mission is in constant contact with the parties to the conflict, to call on them to take action against the perpetrators, and to protect civilians and their property.