Army Warplane Crashes in Sudan Despite Ceasefire Agreement

Residents of the city of Bahri confirmed that they saw military aircraft flying over large parts of the city.

The army and the Rapid Support Forces are supposed to abide by the ceasefire, which was arranged by Saudi Arabia and the United States, for a period of seven days.

Fighting has decreased, but clashes continue in parts of Khartoum.

But people in Khartoum say clashes have continued in some parts of the city.

In El-Obeid – the capital of North Kordofan state – a doctor told the BBC that the two warring parties had ignored the truce and five people had been killed in the clashes.

Several areas in Khartoum witnessed clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, after hours of relative calm.

Eyewitnesses told the BBC that the two sides clashed in Khartoum near the mint buildings, indicating that heavy weapons were used during the fighting.

These developments come only two days after the implementation of the ceasefire agreement. The Saudi-American mediation demanded that the two parties adhere to the cease-fire.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights urged Sudan’s warring generals to stop sexual violence against civilians, and to save the lives of those caught in the fighting.

Volker Türk described the conflict as heartbreaking.

Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo called for an immediate halt to what he described as senseless violence.

Saudi-American appeal

Saudi Arabia and the United States, which co-sponsored the recent ceasefire in Sudan, called on the warring parties to stop violating the truce.

They said the week-long calm was aimed at facilitating the distribution of humanitarian aid to those in need.

Saudi Arabia and the United States said late Tuesday that they were seeking to verify ceasefire violations in Sudan, and that preparations were under way for humanitarian relief operations.

They said in a joint statement that the warring Sudanese factions had not kept their commitments and were seeking a military advantage in the days before the ceasefire began on Monday.

On Tuesday, the ceasefire monitoring committee pledged to “engage the concerned faction leaders regarding allegations of ceasefire violations, while the committee seeks to verify reports.”

The United States says it is using a remote monitoring system to monitor the current truce in Sudan, and has warned that anyone found to have violated the ceasefire will be held accountable.

The fighting is taking place between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which erupted as plans for an internationally-backed political transition towards elections that pave the way for a civilian government were finalized.

Sudan was already facing severe humanitarian pressure before the conflict erupted on 15 April, forcing more than a million people to flee their homes and threatening to destabilize the region.

The United Nations says the number of people in need of assistance has jumped to 25 million, more than half the population.

The United States had earlier confirmed that it had provided $245 million in additional aid to help people fleeing violence.

Last Saturday, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces signed a new armistice agreement in the Saudi city of Jeddah, with joint mediation between Riyadh and Washington.

The agreement provides for an armistice regarding the cease-fire for a period of one week, which begins two days after its signing.

The agreement provided for monitoring the truce through a joint mechanism between the parties to the conflict and the mediators, in addition to the International Red Cross.

The army and the Rapid Support Forces signed similar previous agreements, but did not abide by them, amid mutual accusations of violating the armistice.

The private website of Al-Intibaha newspaper reported on May 23 that the delegations of the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, who signed the seven-day ceasefire agreement, left the Saudi port city of Jeddah.

The site stated that “the Sudanese negotiating delegation headed by Major General Abu Bakr Faqiri left the Saudi city of Jeddah after signing a short cease-fire for a week with the Rapid Support Forces on Monday evening.”

Sources said Faqiri returned to the country, while the Rapid Support delegation traveled to the UAE.

At least 863 civilians have been killed in the fighting so far, and 3,531 others have been wounded since the fighting began on April 15.

Doctors Without Borders, which runs projects in 10 states in Sudan, said violence had broken out in parts of the country, including several towns in the West Darfur region.

The Sudanese Ministry of Health said in a statement that the Rapid Support Forces raided and occupied Ahmed Qasim Hospital in Bahri, just before the ceasefire, and stationed themselves in a new Alban hospital as well, on Tuesday morning.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces denied accusations by the Sudanese ministries of health and foreign affairs that they were still occupying hospitals in the capital, Khartoum, in violation of the agreement signed by the warring parties in Saudi Arabia.

“The Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs spread lies and misleading information. There are no indications of a military presence in Ahmed Qassem Hospital,” Reporters Without Borders said in a post on its Facebook page yesterday.

The ceasefire agreement raised hopes for an end to the war that has driven nearly 1.1 million people from their homes, including more than 250,000 people who have fled to neighboring countries.

“Our only hope is that the truce works, so that we can go back to our normal life, feel safe, and go back to work,” said Atef Salah El-Din, 42, a Khartoum resident.

Since the outbreak of the conflict on 15 April, activists have complained of indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes on residential areas, as well as the use of civilians as human shields, extrajudicial killings, torture, and sexual violence.

MSF said that violence, looting, and administrative and logistical challenges have consistently hampered efforts to scale up its activities.

A senior Red Cross official said Tuesday that Sudanese refugees are pouring into Chad so quickly that it will be impossible to move them all to safer places before the rainy season begins in late June, signaling the risk of disaster.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said this week that between 60,000 and 90,000 people have fled to neighboring Chad.