The bloody civil war that is going on in the African country of Sudan, in the wake of the war in Ukraine and Gaza, remains hidden from the eyes of the world. This civil war has created the ‘worst humanitarian situation’ in the world. By next September, more than 750,000 people in the country may fall into a ‘catastrophic food crisis’.
Since April 15 last year, fierce fighting has been going on between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Hemedati Dagalo. The RSF has besieged the town of Al-Fash in North Darfur for over a month. Previously, the two forces controlled Sudan’s government side by side.
According to UN statistics, at least 14,000 people have been killed in this civil war so far. More than one crore people have been displaced.
The UN Security Council on Friday asked the RSF to lift the blockade from the city. However, without paying attention to it, RSF launched a major attack there. However, the armed forces of Sudan claimed that it resisted and caused great damage to the opponent.
The SAF claimed in a statement that hundreds of RSF personnel were killed in the failed attack. Among those killed was a senior commander of the force, Ali Yagub Gibril. The fighters of this force have practically fled from the battlefield.
However, RSF has not yet informed about this.
The charity MSF said at least 226 people were killed and 1,418 injured in yesterday’s fighting in Al-Fasher.
The United Nations and various international human rights organizations fear that the RSF will carry out ethnic cleansing if it takes over the city of Al-Fash. About 1.8 million people live in the city. It is now the last stronghold of the Sudanese armed forces in the Darfur region.
‘The world needs to wake up’
The latest UN Security Council resolution called for a swift ceasefire in Sudan, unhindered access for humanitarian aid and for all parties to comply with the arms embargo imposed on Sudan. A ceasefire was called in the country in March last year to mark the holy month of Ramadan, but it failed.
In this situation, the United States yesterday announced an aid package of 315 million US dollars in emergency humanitarian aid to Sudan. He also warned that the country is on the brink of famine.
Linda Thomas Greenfield, US Ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters, “There is a terrible catastrophe unfolding before our eyes, the world needs to wake up now.”
The bloodiest fighting in Sudan is in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. Linda Thomas Greenfield, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, expressed fear that about 2.5 million people in the two regions, which is about 15 percent of the population, may die in severe food crisis by next September. Naturally, this could turn into the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis.
‘They are raping our mothers and sisters’
Many Sudanese are joining the country’s military to fight the RSF. Musa Adam is one of them. He lived in Enyala town in South Darfur. He had to leave his home because of the war. He told Al-Jazeera that he had joined the armed forces to resist the RSF, describing the destruction that the RSF had done in their area.
Musa Adam said, ‘People have been displaced, their goods have been looted, our mothers and sisters have been raped. Out of that anger I joined the armed forces. RSF has taken over Nyala and it is very dangerous to stay there. So I left.’
RSF continues to attack North Darfur. More than 130,000 people fled from there last month to save their lives. Several mass graves are said to have been recovered there. Several villages have been burnt. Most of the inhabitants of the villages belonged to the Jaghawas ethnic group.
Former RSF officer Abu Al-Qasim Mohammad also joined the armed forces. He said, ‘I joined the military against the RSF from the first day of the civil war. Because, they have rebelled against the government, stood against the military, are fighting against the country.’