Sudan: US calls for ceasefire after 100 civilians killed in battle between army & paramilitary forces

Washington: The United States has called for a ceasefire in Sudan where the deadly fighting between rival military factions have claimed lives of at least 100 civilians and injured 365 others. An ex-serviceman from India’s Kerala was also among those killed after being hit by stray bullets in capital Khartoum on Saturday. The fighting between the army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which started on 15 April, continued overnight into its third day on Monday. Khartoum woke up to bombardments and air strikes that lasted for around two hours, before the heavy strikes abated but artillery fire continued, a report by Reuters quoted its reporter as saying. Such skirmishes that have spread to other parts of Sudan as well are the first such instances of violence in the capital in recent years. Armed forces have gone up against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with the leaders of the two opposing sides holding the top two positions in Sundan’s ruling council. Following the overthrowing of the long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir in an uprising four years back, such power struggle has the potential to topple the country into a civil war. It could, subsequently, also derail international efforts to launch a civilian transition for the war-torn country. Speaking at the sidelines of a Group of Seven Foreign Ministers meeting in Japan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed on the need of an immediate ceasefire, saying, “There is a shared deep concern about the fighting, violence that’s going on in Sudan - the threat that that poses to civilians, that it poses to the Sudanese nation and potentially poses even to the region,” according to the Reuters report. Blinken also called on Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo to ensure that the civilians are protected. Violence in Sudan As soon as the clashes broke out, social media users reported firing in Omdurman as well as Khartoum, with residents stating they could hear the boom of artillery and warplanes flying overhead in Kafouri, which has an RSF base and adjoins Khartoum. The clashes broke out after rising tensions over the RSF’s integration into the military. Discord over it has led to the delay of the signing of Sudan’s transition to democracy after a 2021 military coup. With inputs from Reuters Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.