Leaders Appeal For Extension Of Shaky Ceasefire In Sudan

Taking advantage of relative calm, many residents in Khartoum and the neighbouring city of Omdurman emerged from their homes to seek food and water, lining up at bakeries or grocery stores, after days of being trapped inside by the fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary group. Some inspected shops or homes that had been destroyed or looted.

People queued for their basic needs in the city of Omdurman.

“People are helpless, they queue for bread, they queue for benzene. There is no fuel, there is no bread or water,” said Fath al-Rahman, a resident of Umdurman.

Still, gunfire and explosions could be heard in the city, though residents said clashes were in more limited pockets, mainly around the military’s headquarters and the Republican Palace in central Khartoum and around bases in Omdurman across the Nile River.

“There’s still fighting in Bahri district, people can’t find water and they drink from the river. We need to reduce the struggle of the people” said resident Faisal Mohamed.

With the future of any truce uncertain, many took the opportunity to join the tens of thousands who have streamed out of the capital in recent days, trying to get out of the crossfire between the forces of Sudan’s two top generals.

The generals’ war for power since April 15 has pushed the population to a near-breaking point.

Food has grown more difficult to obtain, electricity is cut off across much of the capital and other cities, and many hospitals have shut down.

Multiple aid agencies have had to suspend operations, a heavy blow in a country where a third of the population of 46 million relies on humanitarian assistance.

Many Sudanese fear the army and its rival Rapid Support Forces will escalate their battle once the international evacuations of foreigners that began Sunday are completed.