With the renewed clashes in the capital, Khartoum, today, Saturday, between the Rapid Support Forces and the armed forces, despite the truce, the Sudanese army considered that the violent incidents the country has been witnessing for two weeks is an “attempt to hijack the country.”
He also added in a statement posted on Facebook that what happened “was a failed attempt to seize power with rebel force and complete political cover, and in fact it was a project to hijack the Sudanese state with all its history in favor of a project of self-rule for one person,” referring to the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan. Dagalo, nicknamed Hamidati.
Explosions in Khartoum
There is no room for neutrality
He also accused parties from inside and outside the country, which he did not name, of plotting against the country. He stressed that there is no room for “false neutrality” in this ongoing battle, promising a near victory “in favor of the survival of the Sudanese state and its established institutions and the end of the project to hijack our country forever,” as he put it.
Earlier today, the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan accused the army of attacking a number of troop concentration sites and residential neighborhoods in Khartoum with air and artillery, but it renewed its commitment to the humanitarian truce to open safe passages for citizens and facilitate the evacuation of foreign nationals.
It is noteworthy that the Army and the Rapid Support Forces had previously announced their approval of a truce that began at midnight Thursday, and that it would extend for 72 hours, but the two parties exchanged accusations of violating it.
Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (AFP)
Since the outbreak of fighting between the two sides on April 15, 5 truces have been reached, but they have failed to hold and were punctuated by many violations.
The battles have so far killed at least 500 people and wounded thousands, but the number of victims may be much more than that as a result of the ongoing fighting.
Meanwhile, thousands of people have fled from Khartoum and its surrounding areas to other, safer states, amid scarcity of food and drinking water, power outages, and high fuel prices.