Two years on: How is Ukraine adapting to a long-term war?

Two years on: How is Ukraine adapting to a long-term war?

Post By World Armed conflicts, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine

Euronews Reporter Valérie Gauriat travels to Kyiv and the Donbas to see how Ukraine’s population are coping with a conflict that has become part of their daily lives.

More than 10,000 civilians have died since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022. Many hoped the fighting would be shortlived, however, the conflict, now in its third year, has evolved into a war of attrition.

On a rainy day in February, Antonina Danylevich, the wife of a Ukrainian soldier, and a few dozen women, had gathered in Kyiv to call for shorter terms of service for soldiers mobilised on the frontline since the first days of the war.

“My husband has been in the combat zone for two years. In all this time he only had 30 days off. Our men should be replaced, they should have time to rest. And after that, if they want to go back, then fine,” Antonina told Euronews.

An absence hard-felt

Every Saturday, in a secret location at the edge of the Ukrainian capital, groups of women partake in military training sessions, under the aegis of ‘Ukraine Walkyrie’.

Daryna Trebukh founded the course after Russian troops withdrew from the Kyiv region in March 2022. “After what happened in Bucha and Irpin, our women were defenceless, they were under occupation and they didn’t know how to protect themselves. So I decided to start this school of survival, to teach women how to defend themselves,” she explained.

Daryna and her trainees expect a long-lasting war. Kateryna, a doctor, stop to talk to us after finishing a shooting drill. Her husband has been on the frontline for two years: “My daughter is very interested in what I do here. She can’t wait to turn 14 in a few months, the age at which she’s allowed to start military training, not with real weapons, but with strikeballs for instance. I wish it wasn’t, but war could well be part of her future”, she sighs .

The war, an experimentation field

Ukrainian students are also learning to adapt to the war. We visit the prestigious Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Many courses are now carried out remotely.

But a new ultra-secure space has been set up to allow students to work on site in times of war.

“In this modern shelter, students and teachers can work in a safe and comfortable way,when there are no alerts, and when the alert is on”, says vice-rector Vitali Pasichnyk.

Generators, ventilation systems, internet connection, rest areas, nothing has been left out. Funded by companies, the initiative must be replicated in other universities in the country.

“If you don’t support young students, they could leave Ukraine. You can create innovations here, build businesses. This is more than just a reaction to Russia’s aggression. It’s an investment in our future.”, smile Pasichnyk.

We follow 20 year old Ivan to one of the Institute’s research lab. He and a group of co-students are busy assembling an electronic stretcher that can be controlled remotely and used to transport wounded soldiers away from the frontline.

“It takes three or four people to carry a wounded soldier with equipment, but with this, you just place him on the stretcher and drive him away remotely,” explained Ivan.

Beyond participating in the war effort, the students have ambitions for the future. “We are gaining skills with this project. My dream is to help develop Ukraine and create modern enterprises, to produce new and competitive things. We have huge potential” he added.

One of the budding sectors of the future is drone manufacturing. Hundreds of drone factories have sprung up all over Ukraine in the past two years.

Airlogix gave Euronews a tour; approximately thirty surveillance and reconnaissance drones are dispatched from its factory every month.

“They allow our armed forces to fly deep into enemy lines and identify enemy equipment, such as air defence systems, electronic warfare, armoury, warehouses, and so on,” said CEO Vitalii Kolisnichenko.

“You need to be technologically advanced in this war. We consider drones to be key to our victory.”

Starting from a small cargo drones manufacture, with around ten employees two years ago, Vitalii now employs a hundred people. He plans to double production soon and extend it to kamikaze and bomber drones.

An expansion supported by the Ukrainian state. Tax cuts, or the increase in the profit thresholds authorized for military contracts, have favored the birth of hundreds of factories like this one.

“That’s quite a boost for companies like ours, because we reinvest. We continuously try to invent technologies that will help us gain our victory.”

In the long run, Kolisnichenko believes drones could become a top Ukrainian export and help drive the country’s economy: “I think eventually, Ukraine will become the centre of unmanned technologies, for the whole world.”

We leave Kyiv, to head for the regions close to the front line, which extends over a thousand kilometers in the south and east of Ukraine.

Areas which concentrate a large part of the country’s industrial infrastructure, much exposed to Russian bombings.

Set at the edge of the city of Zaporizhzhia, stands one of the largest steel factories in Ukraine.

Iron will

Zaporizhstal became the country’s leading producer of steel and cast iron, after the destruction of the sadly famous Azovstal site during the Battle of Mariupol, in the first months of the full-scale invasion.

In two years, the factory lost a quarter of its 10,000 employees, mobilized or gone to safer areas in the country or abroad.

The site now operates at 70 percent of its capacity. Not without obstacles.

«The main type of logistics for metallurgy industries was sea logistics. We were forced to move to railway transport, which is four times more expensive. And also we can’t import all the raw material we need, nor can we reach the volumes at which we need to sell our products.” says CEO Roman Slobodianuk.

Set some 40 kilometers away from the frontline, the factory is under constant threat. But the workers are holding on.

Maksym used to work at the Azovstal factory, and was able to find a job here. “I can’t avoid thinking about the dangers about the war. But we are human beings, we have to live, to distract ourselves, and we don’t lose hope. We work for our victory. »

Distracting from the war is a challenge, for adults and children alike.

We end our visit to Zaporizhzhia in an extra-curricular activity center that we cannot identify for security reasons. The climbing session we were due to film was interrupted just before our arrival.

«There was an alert, we sent our children to the bomb shelter.”, aplologises Galyna, the centre’s director. We join the children in the shelter. “We are used to the alerts, there are 9 or 10 of them a day, smiles 13 year old Veronika. “At the beginning of the war I was afraid of alarms. Now I am used to them, and to shellings, to drones flying, all those things…”

The alert is over. The children hurry back to their climbing session. With the war, activities organized for children have been adapted to the war context.

Living from one alert to another

“We are teaching children not only how to travel in the mountains, how to orient themselves on the terrain, but also how to provide first aid, and how to transport victims, to different areas and in different conditions.”, explains Svitlana Bebeshko, head trainer at the centre.

The children’s moment of respite is short-lived, as another siren shrieks out. “That’s how we work, from one alert to the next alert. But we’re not afraid of them!” says Galyna, shrugging.

We hit the road again towards the East, and the Donetsk region, in the Donbass, where the war of attrition continues its ravages.

A veterinarian during the weekend, Evgeniy Tkachov spends the rest of his time helping people in towns and villages close to the front line.

He takes us to the town of Selydove, set some 20 kilometers away from the frontline. Evgeniy and his team from the Proliska ngo had organized distribution of basic goods and wooden panels for residents whose homes were shattered by overnight Russian shellings.

“Every day there are more and more people in need. Apart from the fact that we give humanitarian aid, we call people to evacuate and leave. People have spent their whole lives in these small mining towns. So, it’s very hard for them to go elsewhere.”, explains Tkachov.

« We have nowhere to go”, sighs Inna, one of the residents. “We’ll rent an apartment. We hope that at least it will be quiet. And we will be able to come back here. We hope each day that it will end soon. Or everything will be destroyed.”

We end our journey in the village of Selydove, set a dozen kilometers away from point zero. Rows of torn out houses offer a desolate sight.

Most residents have left to safer areas. Oleksandr is one of around twenty villagers, out of some 150, who decided to stay, despite the proximity of the fighting and harsh living conditions. His wife left for safety in a neighboring town after their home was bombed.

But he stayed on. He shows us the two small rooms he now lives in, after rebuilding the roof and walls. Oleksandr lives on food and basic necessities delivered each week by volunteers. But leaving is not an option.

“This is my land. It’ s my father’s land, the land of my grandfather and my great-grandfather. Why should I go anywhere?” he exclaims, as explosions tear the air. “No one would have stayed here if they didn’t believe that we were going to win, that the war would end with our victory.”

One of the soldiers operating in the area pays us an unexpected visit.

« I’m coming from the frontline. It’s hard. The fighting is ongoing. They’re trying to capture Avdiivka. They’re coming, they’re coming !”, says the soldier, sternly. “War is the hardest job that ever could be in this life” he sighs, before heading off. “I’m on my way, to serve the Motherland”.

A few days later, the town of Avdiivka fell into the hands of the Russian army.

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Israel-Hamas war: Killing, chaos and catastrophe in the Gaza Strip

Post By World Armed conflicts, Hamas, Israel, The Gaza Strip

In this episode of Witness, we head into the Gaza Strip to hear harrowing accounts of death, destruction and desperation from those living inside the besieged territory.

Israel continues its bombing campaign in Gaza night and day, in retaliation for the October 7 Hamas terror attack.

As of mid-November, Gaza health officials said that more than 14,000 people had been killed, including 5,600 children.

Ambulances and civilians rush to the scene, hoping to rescue who they can. A scene that repeats itself every day.

Residents of Gaza dig through the rubble of this destroyed building. They carry out those injured and those who didn’t make it.

“We thought we were the only ones hit, but we went outside the house and saw bodies on the ground that flew from over 40 metres from the Al-Ghoul family home,” said Abu Ibrahim, a resident of the al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza.

“There were about seven girls, and some bodies and body parts were over the roof of a public market. Later, a fire caused by the airstrike set the bodies on fire.”

Gaza hospitals reach breaking point

Into the night, injured Gazans continue to be rushed to hospitals. Inside, doctors and nurses frantically scrambled to save injured children and adults.

Israeli planes dropped millions of leaflets over Gaza City, urging residents to flee to the south a few days before the start of Israel’s ground offensive on 27 October.

After entering Gaza, Israeli troops slowly and methodically began to encircle Gaza, completely cutting it off from the rest of the strip.

According to the United Nations, more than half of Gaza’s hospitals were forced to close since Israel declared war after its own civilians were murdered or taken hostage by Hamas.

Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip has meant that basic medicines and fuel to power generators are quickly running out. In the few hospitals that still operate, nurses, and doctors are overwhelmed.

“The health situation in the Gaza Strip has collapsed. We can’t even describe it. Most of the hospitals are out of service or not working at all,” said Dr Ahmad Moghrabi, the head of plastic surgery at Nasser Hospital.

Dr Moghrabi is the head of plastic surgery at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. His staff includes doctors from the international NGO, Doctors Without Borders.

Doctors face impossible decisions due to the lack of medical supplies. They must choose who to treat, and essentially, who gets to live.

The staff at Nasser Hospital have resorted to using vinegar and shampoo to disinfect wounds. They even perform some surgery without anaesthetics.

“We receive wounded people who are not a priority for surgery, but we don’t have space in hospital beds, so we put them in corridors and on balconies until their turn for surgery comes. But the urgent cases, we try to treat them as soon as we can, but sometimes they are late being treated, and their situation becomes catastrophic,” Dr Moghrabi told Euronews.

A perilous choice: To flee or remain?

Each day, the Israeli army opens up one road for several hours to allow civilians to flee to the south.

Yet the road was not totally safe for the Al-Nimnim family. An Israeli strike hit the truck they were travelling in, killing 36 members of the family. Only three survived. The survivors are being treated in a tent provided by the European Union International Aid Agency at al-Aqsa Hospital.

“What have my children done to be torn to shreds? They became body parts, I found six of their bodies intact, while the rest were body parts in a plastic bag,” said Nabeel al-Nimnim, a resident from the north of Gaza and a survivor of an Israeli attack.

With nearly half of Gaza damaged or destroyed, many had no choice but to flee south.

But others thought the evacuation road was too dangerous. Some decided not to abandon their homes. 81% of Gazans are in fact refugees and descendants of refugees who were displaced during wars with Israel.

“Where would we go?” asked Abu Ibrahim, a resident of the al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza. “There is no way to leave our houses. I won’t leave, even if it means my death. This is my homeland, and I won’t abandon it.”

Still by mid-November, the great majority of the one million Palestinians living in northern Gaza had safely fled south, according to Israel. Most were forced to walk, carrying what little they could on their back.

Even in so-called safe zones, civilians are not safe. On one block, at least 45 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Maghazi refugee camp on 5 November, according to Gaza health officials.

The Maghazi camp lies in the zone where Israel’s military had urged Palestinian civilians to seek refuge. An Israeli army spokesperson said he was checking whether Israeli forces were operating in the area.

Aid and essential goods remain in short supply

Meanwhile, in the south of Gaza – overflowing with new refugees from the north – basic necessities such as bread, fuel, and water are in scant supply. Every day, people queue for hours, hoping to get what little they can.

“We lived with dignity in our homes. But we have been humiliated ever since we were displaced,” cried one displaced Palestinian woman in the south of Gaza.

“Provide us with bread and repair the sewage systems in the schools. We are likely to contract diseases, and the coronavirus may affect our children. Have mercy on us!”

Refugees from the north of Gaza have set up new refugee camps further south. The tents offer little in the way of protection from the elements and the camp has no basic services – not even a toilet.

Only a trickle of aid now reaches Gaza. Each truck can only bring a small fraction of the supplies that are needed. On the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, hundreds anxiously check the posted schedules – waiting for their chance to get out.

A limited number of foreign nationals have been allowed to leave Gaza. Many are stuck waiting. One such person is German national Katya Miess, who arrived one week before the war began to visit her Palestinian husband.

“People are suffering, they are crying. People are afraid. All day, every day, there are bombs and missiles,” she told Euronews.

“People don’t know where to go. We feel that we have been abandoned by our own country. We don’t know what is going to happen. Every day, people fear for their lives. It’s not normal.”

As Gaza’s health system disintegrates, ambulances carrying wounded Palestinians crossed into Egypt while the border was still open.

It is, however, not open for fuel coming into Gaza. The lack of this essential supply has limited the ability of hospitals to perform even basic services, putting many people, including premature babies, at risk.

“If the situation continues like this; in a few days, we won’t be able to carry on, we are going to witness massacres and crimes that history hasn’t seen before,” explained Dr Ahmad Moghrabi.

On 15 November, Israel’s army took control of Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, claiming Hamas fighters use it as their main base.

By the time of our broadcast, Hamas’ command centre had not been found.

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French national reported shot as governments evacuate from Sudan

Post By World Armed conflicts, Humanitarian crisis, sudan

A French national has been reported shot trying to evacuate from Sudan as fighting continues to rage in the capital Khartoum, despite a promised ceasefire.

The Sudanese military alleged that the rival Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, had opened fire on a French convoy during its evacuation, wounding a French national. In response, the RSF claimed it came under attack by military aircraft as French citizens and diplomats made their way to Omdurman after evacuating the embassy. It said the military’s strikes “endangered the lives of French nationals, injuring one of them.”

The French Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the details of the rescue operation or the reported shooting for security reasons, but said the evacuation was continuing as planned.

International governments are racing to evacuate their diplomatic staff and citizens trapped in the capital as rival generals battled for control of Africa’s third-largest country for a ninth day.

France, Greece and other European nations were organizing a mass exodus Sunday. French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said France was undertaking the operation with the help of European allies.

The Greek foreign minister said the country had dispatched aircraft and special forces to its ally, Egypt, in preparation for an evacuation of 120 Greek and Cypriot nationals from Khartoum. Most evacuees were sheltering at a Greek Orthodox cathedral in the capital, Nikos Dendias said.

The Netherlands sent two air force Hercules C-130 planes and an Airbus A330 to Jordan to rescue 152 Dutch citizens in Sudan who made their way to an undisclosed evacuation point Sunday. “We deeply sympathize with the Dutch in Sudan,” said Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren. “The evacuation and the transfer to the assembly point are not without risks.”

Italy dispatched military jets to the Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti to extract 140 Italian nationals from Sudan, many of whom have taken refuge in the embassy, said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Fighting raged in Omdurman, the city across the Nile from Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, residents reported. The violence came despite a declared truce that was to coincide with the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

“We did not see such a truce,” said Amin al-Tayed from his home near state television headquarters in Omdurman. He said heavy gunfire and thundering explosions rocked the city.

Thick black smoke filled the sky over Khartoum’s airport. The paramilitary group battling the Sudanese armed forces claimed the military unleashed airstrikes on the upscale neighbourhood of Kafouri, north of Khartoum. There was no immediate comment from the army.

On Sunday, the country experienced a “near-total collapse” of internet connection and phone lines nationwide, according to NetBlocks, an internet monitoring service.

“It’s possible that infrastructure has been damaged or sabotaged,” Alp Toker, director of Netblocks, said in an interview. “This will have a major effect on residents’ ability to stay safe and will impact the evacuation programs that are ongoing.”

After a week of bloody battles that hindered rescue efforts, U.S. special forces swiftly evacuated 70 U.S. embassy staffers from Khartoum to an undisclosed location in Ethiopia early Sunday. Although American officials said it was too dangerous to carry out a government-coordinated evacuation of private citizens, other countries scrambled to evacuate citizens and diplomats.

The fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the powerful paramilitary group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, has targeted and paralyzed the country’s main international airport, reducing a number of civilian aircraft to ruins and gutting at least one runway. Other airports across the country have also been knocked out of operation.

Overland travel across areas contested by the warring parties has proven dangerous. Khartoum is some 840 kilometres from Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

But some countries have pressed ahead with the journey. Saudi Arabia on Saturday said the kingdom successfully evacuated 157 people, including 91 Saudi nationals and citizens of other countries. Saudi state TV released footage of a large convoy of Saudis and other foreign nationals travelling by car and bus from Khartoum to Port Sudan, where a navy ship then ferried the evacuees across the Red Sea to the Saudi port of Jeddah.

The power struggle between the Sudanese military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has dealt a harsh blow to Sudan’s heady hopes for a democratic transition. More than 420 people, including 264 civilians, have been killed and more than 3,700 have been wounded in the fighting.

As violence rages, hospitals say they are struggling to cope. Many dead and wounded have been stranded by the fighting, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate that monitors casualties, suggesting the death toll is probably higher than what is publicly known.

The conflict has left millions of Sudanese stranded at home — hiding from explosions, gunfire and looting — without adequate electricity, food or water.

Thousands of Sudanese have fled the combat in Khartoum and other hotspots, according to U.N. agencies. Up to 20,000 people have abandoned their homes in the western region of Darfur for neighbouring Chad. War is not new to Darfur, where ethnically motivated violence has killed as many as 300,000 people since 2003. But Sudan is not used to such heavy fighting in its capital.

“The capital has become a ghost city,” said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors’ Syndicate.

The fighting has also caught civilians — including foreign diplomats — in the crossfire. Fighters attacked a U.S. Embassy convoy last week, and stormed the home of the European Union ambassador to Sudan. The recent violence wounded an Egyptian diplomat in Sudan, the spokesman for Egypt’s Foreign Ministry Ahmed Abu Zaid, said Sunday, without offering further details.

From the Vatican, Pope Francis called for prayers and offered invocations for peace in the vast African nation.

“I am renewing my appeal so that violence ceases as soon as possible and that the path of dialogue resumes,” Francis told those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

The current explosion of violence came after Burhan and Dagalo fell out over a recent internationally brokered deal with democracy activists that was meant to incorporate the RSF into the military and eventually lead to civilian rule.

The rival generals rose to power in the tumultuous aftermath of popular uprisings that led to the ouster of Sudan’s longtime ruler, Omar al-Bashir, in 2019. Two years later, they joined forces to seize power in a coup that ousted the civilian leaders and opened a troubled new chapter in the country’s history.

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Sudan army says it will help foreigners escape the fighting

Post By World Armed conflicts, sudan, Victims

The Sudanese army said Saturday it was coordinating efforts to evacuate foreign citizens and diplomats from Sudan on military aircraft, as the bloody fighting that has engulfed the vast African nation entered its second week.

Army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan said he would facilitate the evacuation of American, British, Chinese and French citizens and diplomats from Sudan after speaking with the leaders of several countries that had requested help. The prospect has vexed officials as most major airports have become battlegrounds and movement out of the capital, Khartoum, has proven intensely dangerous.

Burhan “agreed to provide the necessary assistance to secure such evacuations for various countries,” Sudan’s military said.

Mass rescues of foreign citizens

Questions have swirled over how the mass rescues of foreign citizens would unfold, with Sudan’s main international airport closed and millions of people sheltering indoors. As battles between the Sudanese army led by Burhan and a rival powerful paramilitary group rage in and around Khartoum, including in residential areas, foreign countries have struggled to repatriate their citizens — many trapped in their homes as food supplies dwindle.

The White House would not confirm the Sudanese military’s announcement. “We have made very clear to both sides that they are responsible for ensuring the protection of civilians and noncombatants,” the National Security Council said. On Friday, the U.S. said it had no plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of the estimated 16,000 American citizens trapped in Sudan.

Saudi Arabia announced the successful repatriation of some of its citizens on Saturday, sharing footage of Saudi nationals and other foreigners welcomed with chocolate and flowers as they stepped off an apparent evacuation ship at the Saudi port of Jeddah.

Officials did not elaborate on exactly how the rescue unfolded but Burhan said the Saudi diplomats and nationals had first travelled by land to Port Sudan, the country’s main seaport on the Red Sea. He said that Jordan’s diplomats would soon be evacuated in the same way. The port is in Sudan’s far east, some 840 kilometres (520 miles) from Khartoum.

In a security alert, the U.S. Embassy in Sudan said it had “incomplete information about significant convoys departing Khartoum travelling towards Port Sudan” and that the situation remained dangerous. “Travelling in any convoy is at your own risk,” it said.

With the U.S. focused on evacuating diplomats first, the Pentagon said it was moving additional troops and equipment to a Naval base in the tiny Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti to prepare for the effort.

Burhan told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya satellite channel on Saturday that flights in and out of Khartoum remained risky because of the ongoing clashes. He claimed that the military had regained control over all the other airports in the country, except for one in the southwestern city of Nyala.

“We share the international community’s concern about foreign nationals,” he said, promising Sudan would provide “necessary airports and safe passageways” for foreigners trapped in the fighting, without elaborating.

Even as the warring sides said Friday they’d agreed to a cease-fire for the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, explosions and gunfire rang out across Khartoum on Saturday. Two cease-fire attempts earlier this week also rapidly collapsed. The turmoil has dealt a perhaps fatal blow to hopes for the country’s transition to a civilian-led democracy and raised concerns the chaos could draw in its neighbours, including Chad, Egypt and Libya.

Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, chief of the paramilitary group fighting the army, known as the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, claimed he would work toward “opening humanitarian corridors, to facilitate the movement of citizens and enable all countries to evacuate their nationals to safe places.”

We are committed to a complete cease-fire,” he told French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

But those on the ground painted a different picture Friday.

“The war has been continuous since day one. It has not stopped for one moment,” said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate, which monitors casualties. The clashes have killed over 400 people so far, according to the World Health Organization. The bombardments, gun battles and sniper fire in densely populated areas have hit civilian infrastructure, including many hospitals.

The international airport near the centre of the capital has come under heavy shelling as the paramilitary group, RSF, has tried to take control of the compound. In an apparent effort to oust the RSF fighters, the Sudanese army has pounded the airport with airstrikes, gutting at least one runway and leaving wrecked planes scattered on the tarmac. The full extent of damage at the airfield remains unclear.

The conflict has opened a dangerous new chapter in Sudan’s history, thrusting the country into uncertainty.

“No one can predict when and how this war will end,” Burhan told Al-Hadath. “I am currently in the command centre and will only leave it in a coffin.”

Both the military and RSF have a long history of human rights abuses. The RSF was born out of the Janjaweed militias, which were accused of atrocities in crushing a rebellion in Sudan’s western Darfur region in the early 2000s.

Many Sudanese fear that despite the generals’ repeated promises, the violence will only escalate as tens of thousands of foreign citizens try to leave.

“We are sure both sides of fighting are more careful about foreign lives than the lives of Sudanese citizens,” Atiya said.

Other countries are believed to be making contingency plans to rescue thier citizens from Sudan. A Japanese transport plane left Japan on Friday, April 21. It will be on standby in Djibouti, ready to rescue citizens stranded in Sudan.

___

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Temporary ceasefire allows some citizens to flee Sudan’s capital city

Post By World Armed conflicts, sudan, UN

Sudan’s rival generals on Wednesday made a new attempt at a 24-hour humanitarian cease-fire after a failed truce the night before. But sporadic fighting continued, and aid groups said they needed guarantees and a wider window to help civilians trapped by five days of intense urban combat.

Terrified Sudanese fled Khartoum earlier in the day, hauling whatever belongings they could carry and trying to get out of the capital, where forces loyal to the country’s top two generals have been battling each other with tanks, artillery and airstrikes since Saturday.

The fighting became less intense in the first hours after the cease-fire took effect at 6 p.m., with sporadic clashes continuing in the city centre, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors’ Syndicate, who is still in the capital. But he said neither side has provided guarantees to his group to facilitate movement of health care workers and ambulances.

Desperate residents of the capital have been running out of food and other supplies as they sheltered in their homes from the gun battles on the streets outside. Hospitals have been damaged and forced to close or have been overwhelmed by wounded, with staff exhausted and medical supplies depleted. Increasingly, armed fighters have turned to looting shops and robbing anyone who dares step outside.

Nearly 300 people have been killed in the past five days, the UN health agency said, but the toll is likely higher because many bodies lie uncollected in the streets.

“The scene was heinous”

In the tense hours after Wednesday’s cease-fire, Abdalla al-Tayeb joined other residents in collecting bodies near the main military headquarters, the scene of intense fighting. “All of them nearly rotted, causing a foul smell that reached our homes,” he said. “The scene was heinous.”

After the failure of Tuesday evening’s truce attempt, hundreds gave up on trying to hold out for calm and fled their homes throughout the day, even as explosions and gunfire shook Khartoum and the adjacent city of Omdurman. Residents of multiple neighbourhoods told The Associated Press they could see men, women and children leaving with luggage, some on foot, others crowding into vehicles.

On Wednesday evening, the army and its rivals, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, separately announced that a new 24-hour truce had begun.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called for both sides to adhere to the truce, “renounce violence and return to negotiations.” She said the army and the RSF “are responsible for ensuring the protections of civilians and non combatants.”

Power struggle

Until now, army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and RSF commander Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo — former allies against Sudan’s pro-democracy movement — have seemed determined to crush each other in their struggle for power.

Tuesday’s cease-fire attempt failed even after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to each general by phone and after pressure from their regional allies. Egypt, which backs the Sudanese military, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have close ties to the RSF, have been calling on all sides to stand down.

Throughout the day Wednesday, the two sides battled around the main military headquarters in central Khartoum, which the RSF has tried repeatedly to capture, and the nearby airport. Residents said the military was pounding RSF positions with airstrikes.

The army’s monopoly on air power has appeared to give it an edge in fighting in Khartoum and Omdurman, enabling it to take several RSF bases over the past few days. But tens of thousands of fighters from the paramilitary force have fanned out across the city.

Residents say armed men, mostly in RSF uniforms, have raided homes, offices and shops in neighbourhoods across Khartoum.

“They roam in small groups from house to house, from shop to shop and loot everything,” said a resident of the upscale neighbourhood of Kafouri in northern Khartoum. “They storm your house and take all valuable things at gunpoint.”

The resident said many families began to take up arms to defend their properties. He and his brother guard their home at night, he said. “You don’t have another option.”

Another resident, in the Arab Market area, said men in RSF uniforms broke into mobile phone shops and took anything they could carry. The residents spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.

Janjaweed militias

Both sides in the conflict have a long history of human rights abuses. The RSF was born out of the Janjaweed militias, which were accused of widespread atrocities when the government deployed them to put down a rebellion in Sudan’s western Darfur region in the early 2000s.

Darfur has also seen heavy clashes in the past five days. The aid group Doctors Without Borders, or MSF after its French name, said armed men raided its compound in Nyala in Darfur, stealing vehicles and office equipment and looting a warehouse storing medical supplies. The International Committee of the Red Cross said its office in Nyala was also looted, with one vehicle taken.

Abdalla Hussein, the program manager for MSF, welcomed the truce but said 24 hours “is not enough” for sustained relief operations, particularly in remote areas.

Foreigners, including diplomats and aid workers, have also been trapped by the fighting,

German media, including the DPA news agency, reported that three A400M transport planes were dispatched to evacuate German citizens from Khartoum but turned around Wednesday due to security concerns. The Dutch government said it was sending a Hercules C-130 and an A330 to Jordan to be on standby but that “evacuations are not possible at the moment.” Japan said it was preparing to send military aircraft to evacuate about 60 Japanese nationals.

In Brussels, Dana Spinant, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, confirmed reports that a senior EU official had been shot and wounded in Sudan, without providing details. The New York Times identified the official as Wim Fransen, a Belgian national. Separately, gunmen broke into the EU ambassador’s residence and assaulted him this week, but a spokeswoman said he is back at work.

Hospitals in Khartoum are running dangerously low on medical supplies, often operating without power and clean water, the ICRC said in a statement. Dozens of health care facilities in Khartoum and around the country have stopped functioning because they are close to clashes, the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate said Wednesday. At least nine hospitals were bombed, it said.

174 civilians killed

The UN’s World Health Organization said Wednesday at least 296 people have been killed and more than 3,000 wounded since fighting began, without offering a breakdown of civilians and combatants killed. The Doctors’ Syndicate, which monitors casualties, said Tuesday that at least 174 civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded.

The conflict between the military and the RSF has once again derailed Sudan’s transition to democratic rule after decades of dictatorship and civil war.

A popular uprising four years ago helped depose long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir. But Burhan and Dagalo jointly carried out a 2021 coup. Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses, and their forces have cracked down on pro-democracy activists.

Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo recently agreed to a framework agreement with political parties and pro-democracy groups. But the signing was repeatedly delayed as tensions rose over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and the future chain of command.

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What sparked the violent struggle to control Sudan’s future?

Post By World Armed conflicts, khartoum, military forces, mlitary power, Paramilitary, sudan

Tensions have been brewing for weeks between Sudan’s two most powerful generals, who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military coup to derail the nation’s transition to democracy.

Over the weekend, those tensions between the armed forces chief, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted into an unprecedented battle for control of the resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people.

Both men, each with tens of thousands of troops deployed in the capital of Khartoum alone, vowed not to negotiate or ceasefire, despite mounting global diplomatic pressure. It is a deadly setback for a country at the crossroads of the Arab world and Africa, which four years ago ended the rule of a long-time dictator in part through largely peaceful popular protests.

Here’s a look at how Sudan, a country with a long history of coups, reached this point and what is at stake.

What preceded the fighting?

In recent months, negotiations had been underway for a return to the democratic transition that had been halted by the October 2021 coup.

Under mounting international and regional pressure, the armed forces and the RSF signed a preliminary deal in December with pro-democracy and civilian groups. But the internationally brokered agreement provided only broad outlines, leaving the thorniest political issues unsettled.

During tortuous negotiations to reach a final agreement, tensions between Burhan and Dagalo escalated. A key dispute is over how the RSF would be integrated into the military and who would have ultimate control over fighters and weapons.

Dagalo, whose RSF was involved in brutal crackdowns during tribal unrest and pro-democracy protests, also tried to fashion himself a supporter of the democratic transition. In March, he slammed Burhan, saying military leaders were unwilling to relinquish power.

Analysts argued that Dagalo is trying to whitewash the reputation of his paramilitary force, which began as brutal militias implicated in atrocities in the Darfur conflict.

How did the situation escalate?

On Wednesday, the RSF began deploying forces around the small town of Merowe north of the capital. The town is strategic, with its large airport, central location and downstream electric dam on the Nile River. The next day, the RSF also sent more forces into the capital and other areas of the country, without the army leadership’s consent.

On Saturday morning, fighting erupted at a military base south of Khartoum, with each side blaming the other for having initiated the violence. Since then, the military and the RSF have battled each other with heavy weapons, including armoured vehicles and truck-mounted machine guns, in densely populated areas of the capital and the adjoining city of Omdurman. The military has pounded RSF bases with airstrikes.

By Monday, dozens of people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the fighting.

The clashes spread to other areas in the country, including the strategic coastal city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea and eastern regions, on the borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea. Fighting was also reported in the war-wrecked Darfur region, where UN facilities were attacked and looted. The UN says three employees with the World Food Program were killed in the clashes there on Saturday.

What are the prospects for a cease-fire and a return to dialogue?

The prospects for an immediate ceasefire appear to be slim. Burhan and Dagalo have dug in, demanding that the other surrender. The intense nature of the fighting also might make it harder for the two generals to return to negotiations.

On the other hand, the military and the RSF both have foreign backers, who unanimously appealed for an immediate halt to hostilities.

The Muslim religious calendar might also play a role. The fighting erupted during the last week of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, with the three-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the fasting month later this week. The population is increasingly strained for necessities and many are homebound by the violence.

Meanwhile, there has been a flurry of diplomatic contacts. The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss Sudan on Monday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he discussed the developments in Sudan with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Saudi Foreign Minister said he spoke separately by phone with Burhan and Dagalo and urged them to stop “all kinds of military escalation.”

The Gulf Arab monarchies are close allies to the military as well as the RSF.

Cameron Hudson, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank and a former US diplomat, said the Biden administration should get its allies in the region to push for peace.

“Without such pressure, we could find a conflict with the same pattern of the war in Tigray (in Ethiopia),” he said.

Who are the foreign actors and what resources are at stake?

During the decades-long rule of strongman Omar al-Bashir, who was deposed in 2019, Russia was a dominant force. At one point, Moscow reached an initial deal to build a naval base on Sudan’s Red Sea coast.

After al-Bashir’s ouster, the United States and European nations began competing with Russia for influence in Sudan, which is rich in natural resources, including gold but has been mired in civil conflicts and military coups. In recent years, the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner has even made inroads in the country.

Burhan and Dagalo have also forged close ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Sudanese troops drawn from the military and the RSF have fought alongside the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen’s long-running civil war.

Egypt, another regional power, also has deep ties with the Sudanese military. The two armies conduct regular war games, most recently this month. Egyptian troops were in a Sudanese military base for exercises when the clashes erupted Saturday. They were caught by the RSF which said they would be returned to Egypt.

The military controls most of the country’s economy, but the RSF runs major gold mining areas, a key source of income for the powerful group.

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Tag: Armed conflicts