(ReliableNews.org) – In 2019, an uprising in Sudan led to the downfall of former dictator and President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The people hoped to bring democracy after three decades of dictatorship rule. Sudanese Army General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan took over as acting leader after al-Bashir’s fall. Two years later, the prime minister of Sudan and his cabinet were arrested during a military coup, and the government was officially dissolved. After the coup, the leader of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, took the position of deputy leader. On April 20, The New York Times reported that the relationship between the two leaders has broken down over the last few months, and the rivalry led to a roaring conflict to determine who would take control.
Peace Efforts
Before the fighting started between the generals and their respective groups, mediators from the United States and Britain tried to calm tensions in the country and gently push them toward democracy. According to the NYT, al-Burhan, and Hamdan participated in long meetings together where they reportedly made promises and compromises and even shared a meal. Meanwhile, their troops were quietly getting ready for war. The Sudanese Army and the paramilitary group soon started fighting in the country’s capital of Khartoum and in other areas, causing civilians to hide inside their homes.
The State of the Country
According to The New York Times, the fighting is only worsening the humanitarian crisis in the region. Millions of people in Sudan face food, water, electricity, and medicine shortages on top of the infrastructure problems already plaguing the nation’s capital. There are even reports of gunmen attacking innocent people in their homes. People are trying to leave the country, but the airport is closed, and the continued fighting is making it nearly impossible to escape.
Aljazeera reported that as much as 70% of the hospitals in Khartoum and surrounding areas are “out of service” because of all the fighting. The World Health Organization is concerned the facilities remaining will soon run out of supplies. As of April 20, almost 300 people had been killed, and around 3,000 more suffered injuries. Sadly, the fighting is making it nearly impossible for all the wounded to travel to hospitals for treatment. Although there was supposed to be a ceasefire between the two sides to evacuate citizens remaining in the area, it didn’t hold for long. Each side reportedly blamed the other for breaking the temporary agreement. The most recent attempt was apparently the fourth go at a truce.
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