Sudan drowning under artillery fire and shelling

Despite the truce and ceasefire agreements and announcements made in recent weeks, the armed clashes between the regular Sudanese army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary group of the Rapid Support Forces commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo continue in Sudanese territory.  

The African country is drowning under artillery fire and bombardment by the warring Sudanese factions. Attacks have intensified in recent hours despite recent pledges to halt hostilities. 

Air offensives and armed clashes were strongly felt south of the capital Khartoum and in other enclaves such as Bahri and Omdurman, around the Nile River, according to reports in various media such as Arab News. The fighting has spread mainly in Khartoum and in the West Darfur area.  

The humanitarian crisis is difficult to tackle as internally and externally displaced people number in the hundreds of thousands, reaching more than 700,000 people, 200,000 of them outside Sudan's borders, fleeing to other countries such as neighbouring Egypt. Authorities have already detailed nearly 700 deaths and more than 5,500 injured, but the toll is expected to be higher.  

Mediation efforts by Saudi Arabia and the United States have so far failed to stop hostilities between the warring parties, despite several truces being agreed, and the fighting remains fierce. Recent talks have led to understandings on the protection of civilians and allowing the delivery of aid, but mechanisms for humanitarian corridors and agreeing a ceasefire that could be final are still under discussion. 

Sudan continues to seek a democratic transition. It is a process that is proving very difficult. It all started with the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir, whose iron-fisted regime ended in April 2019 after the leader came to power in 1989 in a coup d'état. Al-Bashir was deposed following the intervention of the army he led after massive popular uprisings in the Sudanese country in response to the precarious national situation, political oppression and signs of corruption in the nation. These demonstrations came in the wake of the Arab Spring, the social and political movements that took place in many Arab countries and which sought greater democratisation.

After the fall of Al-Bashir, contacts between the military and civil society were established to bring about a democratic transition, but there were many differences and even led to the resignation of Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok in January 2022 due to the existing political impasse and following a military coup in October 2021 that derailed the fragile Sudanese democratic transition amidst popular protests and clashes. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan continued to serve as the country's strongman, but has left many messages about the Sudanese armed forces' intention to step back from political life and to transition to a civilian-led government in favour of democracy. But this has not yet happened in the African nation.  

Now comes the division between national armed groups and the military clash between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces of Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. The Rapid Support Forces are a paramilitary group that was created at the time by former president Omar al-Bashir and which depend on Sudanese intelligence. Since its reconversion in 2013, it has been led by Dagalo, who after the coup d'état of 2021 became the army's number two, behind Al-Burhan. The current situation is indicative of the internal struggles for power and economic control of the nation within the influential military leadership, which are in no way conducive to the stabilisation of power or the long-awaited process of democratic transition.