Sudan crisis creates mass exodus inside Africa

Fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces is entering its third month with neither side gaining a clear advantage.

The proxy war has displaced 2.2 million Sudanese and killed hundreds, and has sent the war-weary Darfur region into a humanitarian calamity, the United Nations has said.

The army has the advantage of air power in Khartoum and its neighboring cities Omdurman and Bahri, while the RSF has embedded itself in residential neighborhoods.

On Friday and Saturday the army appeared to ramp up air strikes, hitting several residential neighborhoods. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) urged, on Friday, to protect Sudan’s children trapped in a harsh nightmare.

The Khartoum health ministry confirmed a report by local volunteers on Saturday that 17 people including five children were killed in the Mayo area of southern Khartoum and 25 homes destroyed.

The strike was the latest in a series of air and artillery attacks on the poor and densely populated district of the city where most residents are unable to afford the cost of leaving.

In El-Geneina, in West Darfur, more than 270,000 have fled across the border to Chad, after more than 1,000 people were killed by attacks that residents and the United States have blamed on the RSF and allied militias.

UNICEF affirmed that more than 13.6 million children are in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian support in Sudan, including water, health, nutrition and protection. This is the highest recorded number in the country since the conflict began in mid-April.

Talks in Jeddah, which USA and Saudi Arabian mediators had threatened to adjourn, were now addressing a possible new three-day ceasefire, as well as a five-day ceasefire during the upcoming Eid holiday.

A series of ceasefires have failed to bring about a complete end to fighting or facilitate humanitarian access.

More than 2.2 million people have been displaced in Sudan since the outbreak of fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

According to the International Organization for Migration, the records show that 1,670,991 people have been displaced internally and 528,147 have fled to neighboring countries.

The UN body pointed out that at least 205,565 Sudanese have gone to Egypt; 149,383 have gone to Chad; 110,980 are in South Sudan; 45,605 are in Ethiopia; 15,219 left for the Central African Republic; and 1,395 are in Libya.

Since the ouster of President Omar Al-Bashir in August 2019, Sudan has been suffering from instability and insecurity due to various opposing factions. Many of them are proxies for foreign powers.

Middle East Monitor / ABC Flash Point News 2023.