The battles continued in Sudan on Friday, despite the armistice that the two military commanders fighting for power pledged to abide by, and despite US threats to impose sanctions.

For the 21st day in a row, the five million residents of Khartoum woke up to the sound of air strikes and machine gun fire, according to AFP witnesses.

Since April 15, fighting between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) has resulted in about 700 deaths and thousands of injuries, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Group (ACLED).

US President Joe Biden affirmed that "the tragedy... must end," hinting at imposing sanctions on "individuals who threaten peace," but without naming anyone.

This country, with a population of 45 million, emerged in 2020 from two decades of US sanctions imposed on the Islamic military dictatorship of General Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown by the army under street pressure in 2019.

In 2021, Al-Burhan and Daglo together overthrew their civil partners, after sharing power with them since the fall of Al-Bashir. However, differences soon emerged between the two generals and escalated, one of the most prominent reasons being the conditions for integrating the Rapid Support Forces into the army.

Since then, nothing seems to be able to reconcile the two men, who exchange accusations of violating successive armistices.
And the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, announced on Tuesday that the two parties to the conflict had agreed "in principle", during contact with him, to a truce that would last from the 4th to the 11th of this month.

However, US intelligence chief Avril Heinz expects "long-term" battles, because "the two sides believe that each of them can wait militarily and have little motive to sit at the negotiating table."

For his part, Khaled Omar Youssef, a civilian minister who was dismissed during the coup, said that "every minute that (the war) continues, people die, people are displaced, society is torn apart, and the state weakens."

The fighting resulted in the injury of more than five thousand people, the displacement of at least 335 thousand people and the forced displacement of 115 thousand others, according to the United Nations, which requests 402 million euros to assist Sudan, which is one of the poorest countries in the world.

The United Nations stated that "more than 50,000 people crossed on the third of May" to Egypt, adding that "more than 11,000 people" crossed to Ethiopia and "30,000 people to Chad."

For his part, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed that it is "absolutely necessary" that the Sudanese crisis not cross borders.

And in Darfur in the west, on the border with Chad, civilians have been armed to take part in clashes between soldiers and the Rapid Support Forces and tribal and rebel fighters, according to the United Nations.

In this region, which witnessed a bloody war that began in 2003 between the Bashir regime and rebels belonging to ethnic minorities, the Norwegian Refugee Council pointed out that "at least 191 people were killed, dozens of homes were burned, and thousands were displaced," in addition to the looting of its offices.

On Thursday, eyewitnesses reported clashes in El-Obeid, 300 km south of the capital.

On Friday, an additional 30 tons of aid arrived in the port city of Port Sudan, which has remained relatively untouched by the violence.

The United Nations and other NGOs are seeking to negotiate the delivery of these shipments to Khartoum and Darfur, where hospitals and humanitarian stocks have been looted and bombed.

At a time when diplomatic contacts are intensifying in Africa and the Middle East, the army said it chose the proposal put forward by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in East Africa (IGAD) because of the need for "African solutions to the continent's problems," while welcoming US and Saudi mediation.

Al-Burhan's envoy was present in Addis Ababa on Thursday. Cairo also announced that it had spoken by phone to the two warring leaders.

The Arab League will hold two extraordinary meetings in Cairo on Sunday at the level of foreign ministers, one of which will be devoted to discussing the war in Sudan, a high-ranking diplomat told AFP.
Al-Burhan's camp pledged to name a delegate to represent it to negotiate a truce with the other party under the auspices of "the presidents of South Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti."
On the other hand, the RSF announced that it had agreed to a truce for three days - not a week - and that it was communicating with a long list of countries and organizations.