Sudan updates: Heavy fighting erupts despite extended truce

A fragile truce extended in the early hours of Friday has already shown cracks in Sudan, with both the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group slipping back into fighting and exchanging accusations of attacks.

Both groups had agreed to extend a 72-hour cease-fire as of early Friday, with US and Saudi mediation. The new cease-fire was meant to last for another 72 hours.

However, on Friday, the RSF accused the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, of attacking RSF bases in Jebel Aulia and Omdurman with airstrikes. The paramilitary group said the attacks stalled the movement of diplomatic missions evacuating their citizens.

The RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, said the truce violations "confused citizens who largely depended on the humanitarian truce to move to safe zones and get their basic needs met."

The army meanwhile accused the RSF of attacking its forces in Jebel Aulia, saying it repelled a "failed" attack and destroyed many RSF vehicles.

It was not entirely clear whether, but appeared probable that, the two groups were referring to the same fighting in the same settlement. Jebel Aulia is roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the capital Khartoum, and like Khartoum is located on the banks of the White Nile. 

Residents reported clashes in several areas in the capital, including the upscale Kafouri neighborhood, around the military's headquarters, the Republican Palace and the vicinity of the Khartoum International Airport, the French AFP news agency said.

Since the fighting began on April 15, many cease-fire agreements had been announced, with hardly any full cessation of fighting. However, the final cease-fire, brokered by the United States, allowed a lull in fighting which opened a window for further evacuations out of Khartoum and the whole of Sudan.

Here are other key headlines about the crisis in Sudan for Friday, April 28:

UK to end evacuation flights from Sudan on Saturday

The UK said it would end its evacuation flights from Sudan for its citizens and their relatives on Saturday evening, after the number of British citizens seeking an airlift began to decline and around 1,500 people had been evacuated out of the conflict-hit country by British planes.

The flights from the Wadi Saeedna airfield near the Sudanese capital Khartoum will cease on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told British media. "People should expect within the next 24 hours, so by six o'clock UK time tomorrow, for us to cease those flights," he added.

Dowden rejected claims that London was abandoning any Britons or their dependents in Sudan, highlighting that "every single British national that has come forward and their eligible dependents have been put safely onto a plane." He emphasized the UK will maintain consular support at exit routes as well as at the eastern city of Port Sudan. 

Bundeswehr returns from Sudan after 'challenging and dangerous' mission

The German Bundeswehr returned to its home country after its rescue mission in Sudan. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius from the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock from the environmentalist Green Party received the nearly 400 troop members upon their return close to Hannover. The soldiers, mostly paratroopers, flew from Jordan on Friday in four A400M aircraft. 

In a statement, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) thanked all those involved in this "challenging and dangerous" mission. Pistorius said that the mission was performed excellently which showed "that the troops are there when you need them."

According to Baerbock, only "a very, very small number" of Germans remained in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. For them, the chance of being evacuated by planes of other nations was still a possibility, she went on to say .

From Sunday to Wednesday, the German Armed Forces had flown out more than 700 people from more than 40 nations from embattled Sudan, according to its own figures. Among them were more than 200 Germans.

At times, about 1,000 soldiers were involved in the evacuation mission. The German parliament, the Bundestag, had approved the deployment of the Bundeswehr on Wednesday with an unusually high majority count. 

Evacuation operations continue

Various operations to evacuate civilians have meanwhile continued despite the fighting, with many Sudanese citizens also moving to safer areas, and crossing into neighboring countries.

Saudi Arabia announced on Friday the arrival of two evacuation ships in Jeddah, carrying citizens of several countries out of Sudan via the Red Sea.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the country evacuated nearly 3000 citizens since the start of the fighting, including 119 Saudi nationals.

Other neighboring countries also took in thousands of refugees fleeing the fighting. Egypt said on Thursday it has taken in 16,000 people, while Chad absorbed 20,000 and 10,000 have crossed into South Sudan.

UN alarmed by prison breaks, impunity

The United Nations raised alarm bells on Friday at the repercussions of the violence gripping Sudan for two weeks, including recent prison breaks.

"We're very, very deeply alarmed by the prison breaks," UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.  "We're very worried about the prospect of further violence, amid a generalized climate of impunity."

Reports of prisoners breaking free amid the security vacuum caused by the fighting have been rampant. Prisoners who escaped reportedly include allies of former ousted president Omar al-Bashir.

Shamdasani said the UN was concerned that jailbreaks symbolized a wider trend of impunity, which she said "emboldens the perpetrators."

She also expressed concern for the human rights situation which she said was deteriorating dramatically.

Shamdasani accused the RSF of removing people from their homes in densely populated areas in Khartoum. 

Capital residents face as a result "looting, extortion, acute shortages of food, water, electricity, fuel, limited access to healthcare, limited communication and limited cash due to the closure of banks," she added.

At least 512 have been killed since the fighting started, with over 4,190 wounded.

Turkish evacuation plane attacked

A Turkish C-130 Hercules military transport plane was attacked with light weapons while en route to pick up Turkish citizens, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Friday.

The ministry said the plane landed safely, with no injuries reported.

The Sudanese army had accused the RSF of carrying out the attack on the plane as it prepared to land at Wadi Sayidna airport. It had claimed that the attack destroyed the fuel container and injured one personnel.

The RSF was quick to dispel the accusation as "lies and claims," saying it had adhered to the cease-fire.

"The area [where the plane was attacked] doesn't fall under our forces' control and we have no forces in its vicinity," the paramilitary group said. It argued that the responsibility for the attack falls fully on the army.

More DW coverage of the conflict in Sudan

Chad is hosting more than 1 million people forced to leave their homes, including nearly 400,000 Sudanese refugees. Chad fears the conflict between rival army generals will pile more pressure on its limited resources.

Russian paramilitary group Wagner operates a gold processing plant in Sudan and has been accused of involvement in the country's recent conflict.

Sudan's neighbors are working to prevent an escalation of fighting in the region. Ethiopia is mediating through the African bloc, but experts say the neighbor in the Horn of Africa should take a stronger leadership role.

los/rmt/msh (AFP, Reuters)