Cairo, Egypt
Reuters
Sudan’s warring factions fought heavy clashes in parts of the city of Bahri on Friday, residents said, a day after both sides welcomed a new mediation effort that seeks to end a three-month war.
The fighting that broke out on 15th April has driven civilians out of the wider capital region – consisting of the cities of Khartoum, Bahri, and Omdurman – and triggered ethnically motivated attacks in the Darfur region.
People watch as smoke rises during clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force, in Omdurman, Sudan, on 4th July, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Mostafa Saied
SUDAN’S PARAMILITARY RSF DETAINED 5,000, SOME TORTURED – HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS
Sudanese human rights organisations had evidence the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces had detained more than 5,000 people in the capital and were keeping them in inhumane conditions, the groups told Reuters on Friday.
The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army for three months, having dominated the Sudanese capital on the ground. Residents have accused the force of looting and occupying homes.
When asked for comment, the RSF said the reports were incorrect, and that it only held prisoners of war who were well-treated.
“These organisations are ignoring violations by the army against civilians including air and artillery strikes, detentions, and arming of civilians,” a representative for the force said.
Among those detained in several locations across Khartoum were combatants, but also 3,500 civilians including vulnerable women and foreign nationals, said the organisations, who asked to have their names withheld for fear of retribution.
The group said they would present to the United Nations documentation of cases of death by torture, as well as “degrading, inhumane conditions of detention devoid of human dignity and the most basic necessities of life.”
The UN human rights office said on Thursday at least 87 people had been buried in a mass grave in the Darfur city of El Geneina, accusing the RSF and allied militias of the killings, which the paramilitary force denied.
Late on Thursday, the International Criminal Court said it would investigate killings across the region. The RSF did not respond to a request for comment on the investigation.
– Dubai, United Arab Emirates/Reuters
Regional and international mediation efforts have so far failed to end the fighting and U.N. officials have said Sudan could slide into civil war.
The latest mediation attempt was launched in Egypt on Thursday. Both the army, which has close ties to Egypt, and the RSF paramilitary group welcomed the effort.
But four residents of northern Bahri told Reuters they woke to heavy early morning clashes between the two sides, apparently centred around the Halfaya bridge.
While the RSF quickly fanned out across the capital in the early days of the conflict, the army has focused on air and artillery strikes that have done little to change the scene.
The army has conducted more ground operations in recent weeks, particularly in Omdurman.
The Bahri residents said they heard air strikes, artillery fire, and gunshots, continuing into the afternoon.
An army source said the army had succeeded in pushing the RSF out of neighbourhoods in the far north of the city in the morning, but the RSF said in a statement they were able to defeat the forces and claimed to kill hundreds.
In a statement the Sudanese army said it had launched ground operations in all three cities of the capital and that it had been successful, acknowledging some losses in Bahri but calling the RSF number inflated.
Residents of the wider capital area reported a communications outage for several hours in the morning.
Other eyewitnesses reported clashes around an army base in southern Khartoum as well.
