Unrest Escalating in Sudan

Unrest in Sudan appears to be escalating, with heavy weaponry reportedly used in attacks on civilians and vital healthcare infrastructure in Darfur, escalating a crisis that was triggered by two rival generals and is now in its third week.

On Sunday, gunfire resonated throughout the streets of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and airstrikes struck its twin city, Omdurman.

A Jordanian public broadcaster broadcast images of the Sudanese central bank on fire.

Sudan’s police force announced that it has deployed Central Reserve forces to Khartoum’s streets. The United States sanctioned this group last year for human rights violations related to its attacks on pro-democracy demonstrators and activists.

De facto head of state and head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has nominally consented to peace talks in South Sudan.

Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, stated that he and his Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries would only engage in dialogue if a complete cessation was observed.

“Stop all hostilities. Then we can enter into negotiations, he told the BBC. According to the RSF, the SAF violated a fragile ceasefire by conducting airstrikes and “indiscriminate shelling.”

Due to a communications blackout in much of Darfur, which is 500 miles west of Khartoum, evidence of extensive destruction slowly emerged amid concerns that fighting in the capital could inflame the region’s preexisting tensions.