Thousands of Sudanese are fleeing Khartoum under a hail of bombs as fierce clashes between the Rapid Support Force paramilitary forces and the regular army continued today after a ceasefire deal that was due to take effect yesterday failed.

At least 200 people have been killed and 1,800 injured in four days of fighting, a tally that is sure to fall short of reality.

On foot or in cars, on roads strewn with corpses and charred military vehicles, thousands of Sudanese are trying to make their way through crossfire from the paramilitary forces of General Mohamed Hamdan, or Hamedi, and the Sudanese army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who are clashing after the coup they jointly organized in 2021.

Since Saturday, the international community has been calling for dialogue. But the two generals, who are now in an existential armed confrontation, are deaf to calls for a ceasefire or even a temporary truce to remove civilians from the most dangerous districts.

However, during the brief periods when the fighting stops, often for ammunition resupply or for the movement of forces, every day groups of Sudanese manage to get out of Khartoum.

Because the city has been unsustainable since Saturday: electricity and water have been cut – and back on in a few areas for a few hours – and stray bullets are piercing walls and windows. Even worse, sometimes a rocket falls from the sky and turns houses or hospitals into ruins.

Already yesterday, the UN had counted around 200 dead and 1,800 injured. But doctors reiterate that no account is reliable on this dangerous battlefield: the number of dead and wounded remains undetermined.

Shortcomings

Seven hospitals in Khartoum have been closed due to the fighting, while the rest are unable to function, according to doctors, for lack of supplies or because they have been seized by military forces or because staff members cannot get to work.

Food stocks are dwindling in a country where in normal times there are already shortages due to triple-digit inflation. No food trucks have entered the Sudanese capital since Saturday.

In the country of 45 million people where hunger affects more than a third of the population, aid workers and diplomats say they can no longer function: three World Food Program workers have been killed in Darfur and the UN reports looting of its warehouses and facilities .

Residents live with the anxiety of an attack on their home or family: they have not forgotten the battles, attacks and atrocities that cost the dictator Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown in 2019, the issuance of international arrest warrants for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur. The Sudanese dictator had then entrusted the implementation of the scorched earth policy to one man: Hemedi.

Streets littered with corpses

Today, thousands of men and children have made their way to the countryside, walking through rotting corpses.

Diplomatic missions are trying to organize operations to remove their citizens. Mission difficult as they themselves become the target of attacks: an American diplomatic mission came under fire on Monday and the ambassador of the European Union was attacked at his residence in Khartoum.

Japan’s defense ministry, for example, is making the necessary preparations to evacuate civilians, a goal that seems far-fetched since Khartoum’s airport is a battlefield and has been shut down.

In the four days of clashes, neither the army nor the paramilitary forces seem in a position to prevail.

“Neither side seems to be winning and, given the intensity of the conflict, the level of violence, the situation could deteriorate further before the two generals are at the negotiating table,” warns Clément Deshayes of Paris 1 University.

For this reason, “their regional allies need to exert pressure and, for now, their statements are not moving in that direction,” the Sudan expert told AFP.

According to analysts, regional powers, neighboring countries and other regional actors want to get along well with both rival Sudanese generals. Because they don’t want to discount the future, which is currently uncertain.