Fighting in Sudan Despite Ceasefire – BBC Reporter

Fighting is continuing in parts of Sudan despite a 72-hour ceasefire largely holding.

Speaking via phone from Omdurman, the adjoining city to the capital Khartoum, the BBC’s Mohamed Osman said there was fighting near TV and radio buildings.

He also said there was “no fuel at all”, a lack of doctors, and people struggling to access food and money.

The ceasefire, which began at midnight local time (22:00 GMT) on Monday, is due to expire at the start of Friday.

The conflict began on 15 April amid a power struggle between the leaders of Sudan’s regular army and rival group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

“People in Khartoum, particularly in Omdurman where I live, are finding it difficult to find clean water and food – even cash to buy things – there are no banks or any money institutes from which to get money,” Osman told the BBC World Service’s OS programme.

He said he could still hear explosions and gun fire, with military planes in the air, although it was quieter than before the ceasefire.

“It is difficult for us to sleep. We are scared. The children are scared because there are large explosions and bullets around us. We lay on the ground. But honestly the last few days the situation has got better.

“The first three days we couldn’t do anything. All the time we were lying on the ground because of the explosions.”

He said there were several checkpoints, manned by both sides in the conflict, but fewer than in recent days, as some troops have withdrawn from his local area.

“I learned from other sources that they have reported to another area of Omdurman,” he added.

Osman said both warring factions were claiming they control important places like airports and army headquarters. There is no internet access and phone lines are poor, he added.

“I have been reporting for several years – I covered protests, the coup, the civil wars, I was in Darfur. But for me this is the most difficult situation because there is death all around everywhere.”

“The most difficult thing is to clarify what is going on because we do not know the truth,” he added. “There is no third party to clarify what is going on.”

At least 459 people have been killed since the fighting broke out 11 days ago, though the actual number is thought to be much higher.

Earlier the World Health Organization (WHO) said it expects “many more” deaths due to disease, a lack of access to food and water and disruption to health facilities.

Several countries have evacuated their nationals since the ceasefire took hold.

A boat evacuating more than 1,600 people from dozens of countries arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and both Germany and France say all their citizens have now left the country.

The first flight bringing British national home landed at Stansted on Wednesday, via Larnaca in Cyprus.

The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission has confirmed to the BBC that evacuations of stranded Nigerian students in Sudan has started.

It is thought there could be up to 5,000 Nigerians living in Sudan, and that 3,500 of them are students.

However, a UK-born student in Sudan said she does not have enough petrol to get to rescue flights.

Samar Eltayeb, 20, from Birmingham, has been sheltering with a relative outside Khartoum since fighting began.

The third-year medical student at Sudan’s National University has been waiting to be evacuated to join her parents and siblings in the UK.

“We have have no gas, and the petrol stations are empty,” Ms Eltayeb said.

“There’ll be constant flights within the next few days, but if I can’t find gas to get there, then I’m stuck.”

Buses carrying evacuees are continuing to leave Khartoum despite soaring prices of fuel and bus tickets.

Meanwhile, former Sudanese politician Ahmed Haroun said that he and other former officials are no longer in jail.

Reports emerged this week of a prison break at Kober in Khartoum- where Ahmed Haroun was serving a sentence alongside Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s former president.

The Sudanese army said Bashir was moved from the prison to a military hospital before the fighting erupted.

Both Bashir and Haroun are facing charges by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their alleged role in the atrocities in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

On Tuesday, Haroun confirmed in a statement aired on Sudan’s Tayba TV that he and other Bashir loyalists who served under him had left the jail – but said he would be ready to appear before the judiciary whenever it was functioning.

Credit: BBC