1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Russia's war in UkraineIsrael-Hamas warIndia elections
ConflictsSudan

Sudan: Airstrikes in Khartoum as conflict enters 2nd month

May 15, 2023

Airstrikes once again hit the capital Khartoum and its sister cities Omdurman and Bahri across the Nile, days after the warring generals agreed to a humanitarian truce.

https://p.dw.com/p/4RMer
People with bags and suitcases head toward a van in Khartoum, Sudan
Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes due to fighting in SudanImage: AFP

Battles raged in the streets of Khartoum as the tussle for power between the warring generals of the country entered its second month on Monday.

A fresh barrage of airstrikes in Khartoum was reported Monday, with residents saying the situation was only getting worse. Fierce clashes were reported in the cities of Omdurman and Bahri as well.

Residents caught in the crossfire have been the hardest hit, with basic needs like food, water, and electricity in short supply.

Sudan crisis: Hospitals damaged and overwhelmed

The strikes come after the Sudan's head of army, Abdel Fattah Burhan, and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is widely known as Hemedti, agreed to a humanitarian truce last week.

West Darfur's Medical system may collapse

Violence also renewed this week in El Geneina in the volatile West Darfur region of Sudan, with the health system nearing "total collapse," medics said.

The UN estimates that only 16% of hospitals in the capital are fully functional, while doctors worry about dwindling medical supplies as the numbers of those injured continues to rise.

Meanwhile, Burhan, as the head of the Transitional Sovereign Council, fired Sudan's Interior Minister Anan Hamed Mohammed Omar, who is also the general director for the police. He appointed Khalid Hassan Mouheiddine as the new general director for the police.

Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in the monthlong fighting, according to medics, with violence over the weekend in El Geneina killing at least 280 people, according to Sudan's Doctor's Union.

RSF leader dismisses rumors about his death

Hemedti dismissed rumors that he had been killed by telling people in a voice message that "I am moving freely around my forces, I am present in Bahri, I am present in in Omdurman, I am present in Khartoum, I am present in Sharq al-Nil."

"They are spreading rumors that Mohamed Hamdan has been killed, and these are all lies that show that they are being
defeated ... I am, thank God, present with the troops," he said.

The fighting between the two men has gotten worse, with Burhan declaring that he was freezing the RSF's assets, and Hemedti threatening to hang the army chief in a public square in an audio recording in their latest spat.

Some 200,000 people have fled into neighboring countries and more than 700,000 people have been displaced internally, triggering a humanitarian crisis that threatens to destabilize the region.

rm/jcg (Reuters, AP)