The Sudanese army has been waging fierce confrontations with the Rapid Support Forces for nearly a year (Sudanese press)
The Sudanese army announced that it had thwarted an attack by the Rapid Support Forces on the city of El Fasher, while the World Health Organization warned of widespread hunger in Sudan due to the continuing war.
The Sudanese army said in a blog post on its Facebook page that forces from the 6th Infantry Division in the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state (west of the country), thwarted an attempt by “rebels of the Al Dagalo terrorist militia” to infiltrate in the eastern direction of the city.
He added that his forces defeated what he called the militias, inflicting heavy losses on them. The army published a video that it said showed its forces celebrating what happened.
In Omdurman, Al Jazeera correspondent Osama Sayed Ahmed monitored the extent of the destruction to which the main market in the city was subjected, due to armed confrontations between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces during the past days.
The pictures show the effects of extensive looting that affected all the shops inside the market.
Last week, Sudanese army forces advanced in the Omdurman Market area, west of the capital, Khartoum, for the first time since clashes broke out with the Rapid Support Forces in mid-April 2023, while communication and Internet services were cut off in large parts of the country for the second time this week.
The Karari Resistance Committees in Omdurman (activists) reported in a statement that “the army advanced yesterday morning, Wednesday, in the Omdurman market axis, west of the capital, Khartoum.”
Al Jazeera correspondent monitors the extent of the destruction suffered by the main market in the city of Omdurman, due to armed confrontations between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces during the past days #News pic.twitter.com/VPslNlhLnB
- Al Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) February 14, 2024
Meanwhile, activists circulated on social media video clips of Sudanese army soldiers walking around the Omdurman market in the center of the city, which is witnessing violent battles between the two sides.
The Rapid Support Forces still control strategic areas in Omdurman, including the headquarters of the official Radio and Television Corporation.
Spread hunger
Humanly, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday that 5 million people in Sudan suffer from hunger.
The representative of the World Health Organization in Sudan, Peter Graf, indicated in a press conference that the continuation of the conflict in the country for 10 months has dragged Sudan into a “major humanitarian disaster.”
He pointed to the continued mass exodus of civilians as the conflict continues to spread to new areas, noting that Sudan is "witnessing the largest internal displacement crisis in the world with 8 million people."
He explained that displaced people often find shelter in overcrowded areas, where there is no access to water, sanitation, food and basic health services.
He stated that about 25 million people in Sudan are in need of humanitarian aid, “including 18 million people suffering from acute hunger, and 5 million suffering from hunger at the emergency level.”
Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have been waging a war that has left more than 13,000 dead and more than 7 million displaced and refugees, according to the United Nations.
An analysis published by the global “Integrated Phase Classification of Food Security” initiative, joint between 15 United Nations organizations and regional institutions, last November, showed that 5 million and 830 thousand people in Sudan suffered from acute food insecurity, in the period between October And November 2023.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies