Despite the ceasefire, a Turkish plane is fired on near Khartoum in Sudan. Fighting between the conflicting parties continues. The news ticker.
- truce Broken: In Sudan, fighting between government troops and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) appears to be continuing.
- Turkish plane under bombardment: A rescue plane from Turkey comes under fire in Sudan.
- All the news from Sudan in our news ticker.
+++8:39 p.m.: While the fighting in Sudan continues despite the agreed ceasefire, around 400 Bundeswehr soldiers returned from their dangerous mission in the country on Friday. “You saved the lives of more than 700 people,” said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) in an appeal to honor the returnees immediately after landing.
“The youngest that you saved were two days old, two twin babies that you took out there.” How dangerous this mission was shows that a French soldier was injured in Sudan and a Turkish plane was shot at there. From Sunday to Wednesday, the Bundeswehr, in cooperation with the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Police, had flown more than 700 people from more than 40 nations out of Sudan. Among them were more than 200 Germans.
Meanwhile, numerous people in Sudan are trying to flee the country on their own. On Wednesday alone, 1,687 civilians from more than 50 countries arrived in Saudi Arabia after fleeing the violence. According to Egyptian information, 14,000 locals and 2,000 people of other nationalities have already come to Egypt from Sudan. There are also beneficiaries of the conflict, the ticket prices for buses on the escape routes – for example to Port Sudan – sometimes cost ten times as much. Not everyone can afford that. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 512 people died in the fighting and almost 4,200 were injured. The actual number of victims is likely to be significantly higher.
Sudan crisis: Apparently, meetings of the conflicting parties are planned
+++4.59 p.m.: The first meeting between the conflicting parties since the outbreak of fighting is apparently to take place in southern Sudan on Friday. The local newspaper reported Sudan Tribune. Presidential Affairs Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin has confirmed that the two rival forces have agreed to extend the ceasefire and participate in the talks, sources said.
Tut Gatluak, advisor to the President of South Sudan, also had information from the Sudan Tribune told the newspaper on Wednesday that the two warring factions had agreed to extend the ceasefire and come to the South Sudanese capital Juba for talks. The second ceasefire since the fighting began on Friday, however, lasted only sporadically, and armed conflicts continued in isolated cases.
The struggle for power in Sudan was between the supreme commander of the Sudanese army, de facto President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, leader of the RSF militia, over the issue of the paramilitary group’s incorporation into the Sudanese one Army inflamed. Apparently, this sensitive topic should also be brought up at the meeting.
At least 74 people died Monday and Tuesday in Sudan: heavy fighting in Darfur
+++3.16 p.m.: Despite the extended ceasefire in Sudan, the parties to the conflict in the East African country fought fierce battles again on Friday. Heavy fighting was reported from the western region of Darfur in particular. At least 74 people were killed in the regional capital Geneina on Monday and Tuesday alone, but there is still no overview for the other days of the week due to the ongoing fighting, as the country’s medical association announced on Friday. But there are at least several hundred people.
Weapons are now being reportedly distributed to civilians in Darfur, according to the UN. The Darfur Bar Association reported that RSF militia paramilitary fighters in Geneina were “firing rockets at houses.” RSF, the Rapid Support Forces, is one of the two parties to the conflict, the Sudanese army is the other. The now inflamed Conflicts stem from a power struggle between two generals.
UN fears more violence: war criminals may have escaped from Sudanese prisons
+++2.52 p.m.: The UN human rights office fears additional violence in Sudan because possible war criminals could have been released from prisons. In the past few days, prisoners have been broken out of or released from several prisons, a spokeswoman said on Friday in Geneva. That could reignite ethnic tensions that have existed in Sudan for a long time.
+++ 12.40 p.m.: Five Bundeswehr transport aircraft from Sudan are expected today at Wunstorf Air Base. They are expected to land around 5pm. In addition to Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD), Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) will also be present at the reception of the soldiers.
Ceasefire in Sudan apparently broken
+++ 11.55 a.m.: According to information from the Al Jazeera news agency, both sides in Sudan blame each other for the breach of the ceasefire. The RSF accuses the Sudanese army of having flown airstrikes on positions in northern Khartoum. The government troops, in turn, accuse the RSF of having fired on a Turkish rescue plane during anti-aircraft attacks.
+++ 11.30 a.m.: Despite the agreed ceasefire between government troops and the RSF, fighting is apparently continuing in Sudan. In a news agency video Reuters report eyewitnesses to air raids near Khartoum.
War in Sudan: Turkish plane under fire
Update from April 28, 2023, 10:50 a.m.: Despite a new ceasefire in Sudan, a plane from Turkey has apparently been fired upon. The attack is said to have taken place near the capital Khartoum. The Turkish Ministry of Defense reports this via Twitter. The machine has now reached the Wadi Sayedna military base in the north of the capital. Apparently nobody was injured. It is now being checked whether the aircraft has been damaged.
Sudan: Residents fear new fighting
Sudan – Fierce fighting continues in Sudan. Hopes of a ceasefire are dwindling, and residents of the region fear for their safety. In view of the threatening situation, numerous countries have already flown out their citizens in the past few days.
According to the Defense Ministry, the Bundeswehr took a total of around 700 people out of the country, including 200 Germans. According to a spokesman for the Operations Command, the last soldiers completed the evacuation on Wednesday (April 26) and landed in Jordan at 10:40 p.m. After the rescue operation, the Bundeswehr draws a positive balance, but also emphasizes the danger of the operation.
Fighting continues in Sudan: Bundeswehr warns of danger: “Get fighting at any time”
“We were set up in such a way that we could have reacted at any time even in the event of an escalation on site,” said the responsible Major General Dirk Achim Faust Picture. The German forces could have “started a fight at any time and defended us”. The Bundeswehr was prepared for a fire during landing or on site and the A400M aircraft were protected. “We had all the skills needed to hold our own against stronger enemy forces on the ground – from small arms to anti-tank capability,” said Faust.
The emergency services were also prepared to leave the airport, the general said. But this was not necessary. The time slots for the rescue flights were tightly scheduled. “The downtime on the ground should be kept as short as possible.” On average, the machines were “on the ground for an hour”.
The situation in Sudan is coming to a head – aid organizations are demanding more protection for citizens
At the international level, calls for stronger protections for the citizens of Sudan are growing louder. European leaders would currently only focus on evacuating their citizens. “We have no time to waste and must focus on supporting and protecting those who remain in the country,” writes David Miliband, President and Executive Secretary of the International Rescue Committee.
He calls for additional support from non-governmental organizations in the conflict area. “What about the almost 47 million Sudanese who remain in the country? A rapid increase in humanitarian aid is key to helping millions of people in Sudan,” Miliband said.
Bitter power struggle in Sudan: Paramiliz RSF wants to gain control
Meanwhile, northern parts of Khartoum are also the target of intense artillery and air strikes by the paramilitary group RSF, the broadcaster reports Al Jazeera. According to one, the hospitals are Al Jazeera-Reporter overloaded and urgently need more medical staff and medication. People are afraid that after the 72 hours there will be no renewal and fighting will increase, it said.
In Sudan, units of the army and the paramilitary RSF militia have been fighting each other for more than a week. More than 420 people have been killed and more than 3,700 injured in the fighting, and agreed ceasefires have been broken. The trigger for the conflict was the escalating power struggle in Sudan between de facto President Abdul Fattah Al-Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Daglo is the head of the paramilitary group RSF. The RSF troops try to conquer strategically important points of the country. Both RSF troops and Al-Burhan units have been accused of human rights abuses and gross brutality against civilians. (bohy/afp)