Here is the situation on Thursday, May 4, 2023:
Fighting:
- In spite of a new ceasefire supposedly beginning, fierce fighting could be heard in central Khartoum as the army tried to push back the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from around the presidential palace and army headquarters.
- Heavy bombardment also rang out in the adjoining cities of Omdurman and Bahri.
- Early on Thursday, the army said it had “accepted” a proposed ceasefire extension while calling for “an African solution to the problems of the continent”.
- RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo tweeted that he was committed to “opening and securing safe corridors” in Sudan.
- In a Facebook post later, the RSF claimed its forces “still control 90 percent of the three cities of Khartoum” and said it affirmed a “full commitment to the declared humanitarian truce”.
Humanitarian situation
- The UN pressed Sudan’s warring factions to guarantee safe passage of humanitarian aid after six trucks were looted and air raids in the capital undermined the truce.
- Most hospitals are out of service, and many areas have been left without power and water as supplies of food and fuel dwindle.
- The distribution of aid has reportedly been held up in Sudan, where one-third of its 45 million people had already relied on assistance before the fighting broke out on April 15.
- About 100,000 people have fled Sudan to neighbouring countries, the UN says.
Diplomacy
- In Nairobi, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the international community must tell the two commanders leading the fighting that the situation is unacceptable. The two generals must face pressure to stop the violence, begin a dialogue and allow a transition to civilian government.
- Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s envoy, Dafallah Alhaj, told Al Jazeera that only a military solution would end the problem and there would be no face-to-face discussions with the RSF, only through mediators.
