CAIRO –
For the past three days, Howeida al-Hassan and her family have been huddled on the first floor of their home in the Sudanese capital, sleeping on the floor as the sounds of airstrikes and gunfire surround them.
This is the life of millions of Sudanese trapped in their homes since violence suddenly erupted over the weekend between forces loyal to the country’s two top generals. Civilian life has come to a standstill as tens of thousands of heavily armed fighters from the army and its rival Rapid Support Forces fight in densely populated residential areas.
For many, food supplies are already dwindling as going out to restock has become too dangerous. That is why sharing between neighbors has become essential. Posts appear on social media providing information on pharmacies and grocery stores that are still open and able to deliver essential goods to people stuck. Others post phone numbers or home addresses, offering to take in anyone trapped outside and seeking shelter as shooting approaches.
Residents have been desperate for at least a temporary ceasefire so they can stock up on supplies or move to safer areas. Media reported that the two sides agreed to a 24-hour break in fighting on Tuesday, but as the reported start of the truce passed in the evening, fighting continued in parts of the city. Nearly 12 million of Sudan’s 46 million people live in the capital area, where most of the fighting is centered.
The number of victims of the violence has been difficult to determine, since many bodies are left on the street, unable to be recovered due to the clashes. The Sudan Doctors Union says at least 144 civilians have been killed and more than 1,400 wounded, but the true number is likely higher. The UN has put the balance at more than 185 dead and 1,800 wounded, without providing a breakdown of civilians and combatants.
Al-Hassan, a gynecologist who lives in the al-Fayhaa neighborhood in eastern Khartoum, said her family avoids going near the windows for fear of being killed or injured in the crossfire. Outside, forces from both sides roam the streets armed with machine guns and automatic weapons, backed by artillery barrages and airstrikes, she said.
“They fight each other in the open. The stray bullets and the shelling hit the houses,” he said.
Al-Hassan’s family has not had running water or electricity since the violence began and has had to charge their phones in their car to keep up with the latest news.
Al-Hassan ventured out to buy bread at a nearby bakery on Monday. “I was standing in a long queue for more than three hours while the sound of the fight was heard very close,” he said. He eventually he was able to get the bread from him.
But he has not been able to reach the hospital where he works, even though it is only a kilometer away. She said that she provides remote consultations through her phone to women in need. “This isn’t ideal, but it’s the only option we have,” she said.
The fighting is a new blow to Sudan’s already tottering economy. Nearly a third of the country’s population, nearly 16 million people, were in need of humanitarian aid, including some 11.7 million already facing acute food insecurity, according to the UN.
“Thousands and thousands of civilians are trapped in their homes, protected from fighting, without electricity, unable to get out and worried about running out of food, clean water and medicine,” said United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker. Turkish.
In another Khartoum district, Farah Abbas said her family was lucky because they had stocked up on food including flour, rice, oil and other essentials ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“This is an annual tradition,” he said. “Every Ramadan, we buy flour, rice, oil and other necessities to cover the whole month.”
However, Abbas, 65, and his wife have been unable to attend regular checkups due to age-related health complications. He said the streets of his Mamoura neighborhood are empty, with no one daring to come out amid the sounds of fighting.
“There is no respect for our life, the life of the people,” he said. “Nobody can go out even to bury bodies lying in the streets. It’s very risky.”
One of Abbas’s sons was killed in 2019 when the army and the RSF, who were allies at the time, stormed a protest camp that pro-democracy activists had been organizing outside the main military headquarters in central Abbas. Khartoum. More than 120 people were killed and dozens of women raped during the attack on the camp, a major blow to the activist movement seeking to bring civilian rule to Sudan.
In 2021, the leaders of the armed forces and the RSF united again in a coup against a transitional government that was supposed to bring civilians to full authority.
Abbas said that in the past two months, there was clear evidence that the two powerful forces were fighting and war was coming, referring to statements and counter-statements by the military and RSF leaders.
“It was just a matter of time. Everyone was pushing to come to this conclusion,” he said.