In Sudan, a precarious truce and supply difficulties for the population

Khartoum's central market building "victimized" by clashes between Generals al-Burhan and Hemedti. REUTERS - MOHAMED NURELDIN ABDALLAH

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1 min

The truce was little respected again this Friday in Sudan with artillery fire and aerial bombs on Khartoum. The international community calls for its full implementation and unhindered humanitarian access, as the truce was intended to replenish stocks of food, medicine and water. But essential services remain paralyzed in the capital.

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The warring parties agreed to extend the 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan. On the streets of Khartoum, after passing through checkpoints manned by armed men, civilians find storefronts closed. Most shops have been looted or lack stock, says Hamid, a resident of the city centre: "My little sister had fever and vomiting on Monday. We looked for medicine, but the pharmacy in my neighbourhood was closed. So we asked our neighbours. They, too, had none. We just wet his forehead with cold water.

Another difficulty is that most petrol stations are closed. A gallon of gasoline now costs 50 times more than at the beginning of the conflict. In these conditions, it was impossible for Hamid to flee. "There is a military camp near us. If it is targeted, the fighting will be right on our doorstep. So inevitably, we will leave. The problem is that at the moment we do not have enough gasoline. Even with money, it's very difficult to find it.

In Khartoum, civilians are trapped without any humanitarian aid, after the evacuation of several international organizations in the country, such as the World Food Programme, two of whose employees were killed at the beginning of the conflict.

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Read on on the same topics:

• Sudan
• Humanitarian
• Society