Clashes continue for a third day today, Monday, in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, with neither side appearing willing to call for a ceasefire. Neither General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan’s army nor General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo’s powerful paramilitary forces are willing to back down.

About 100 civilians have been killed so far in Sudan and hundreds injured.

For weeks, the conflict has simmered between the two men, who together ousted the civilian government from power in a coup in October 2021, but turned their guns on each other on Saturday morning.

Since then, the fighting with heavy weapons has not stopped and there have been continuous airstrikes – even inside Khartoum – against Rapid Support Forces (FSR) headquarters and bases. Former combatants in Darfur’s bloody conflict turned regular paramilitary force are fighting to take control of the country’s military and non-military infrastructure.

Between crossfires, civilians pay a heavy price: at least 97 of them have been killed, according to a medical association – 56 on Saturday and 41 on Sunday, about half in Khartoum.

The dead fighters numbered in the “dozens”, according to medics, but neither camp has reported casualties.

The military said last night that the situation was “extremely stable” and that fighting was “limited” while the FSR said they were “undoubtedly” heading for victory.

Warning sign from doctors

In fact, it is impossible to know which force controls what. The FSR announced they had captured the airport on Saturday, which the military denies. The paramilitaries also claim to have entered the presidential palace, but the military denies this as well, while it claims it remains in control of its general staff headquarters, one of Khartoum’s key power buildings.

As for state television, both sides say they have it under their control. But residents in neighboring areas say fighting continues, while the television program only broadcasts patriotic songs, like when the coup took place.

While there is no immediate ceasefire or solution in sight, doctors and humanitarian organizations are sounding the alarm: even under normal circumstances, households in Sudan only have electricity for a few hours a day. In some districts of Khartoum, the electricity supply has been interrupted since Saturday, as has the water supply. And the few grocers that do open warn that they will last only a few days unless truckloads of goods arrive in the capital.

Via Internet, doctors announce power outages in operating roomswhile the World Health Organization (WHO) states that “several of Khartoum’s nine hospitals receiving wounded civilians lack blood, transfusion equipment, IV sera and other vital supplies.”

Patients – including children – and their relatives “they have nothing to eat and drink”warns a network of pro-democracy doctors who say they cannot safely let patients leave, causing overcrowding.

The “humanitarian corridors” opened for three hours yesterday afternoon by the warring sides did not change the facts – moreover, even during this time the explosions and shootings in Khartoum did not stop.

International concern

The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said today that there is a “shared sense of deep concern” among allies about the conflict in Sudan and a shared view that hostilities must cease immediately and the parties involved return to the negotiating table.

Blinken, whose remarks came on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers’ meeting in Japan, said close consultations had been held on the conflicts, including with partners in the Arab world and Africa as and with humanitarian organizations.

“There is a shared feeling of deep concern about the conflict, the violence that continues in Sudan. The threat posed to civilians, to the Sudanese nation and possibly even to the region”he stated.

“And also the strong view among all our partners of the need for an immediate ceasefire and a return to talks – talks that have shown great promise in putting Sudan on a path to a full transition to a civilian government,” he stated.

These positions are also echoed by the statements of British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly: “Ultimately, the immediate future is in the hands of the generals involved in this conflict and we call on them to put peace first, end the fighting and return to negotiations Cleverly stated.