Dozens of people were allegedly murdered as competing military forces fought for control of the African country. The capital saw an increase in violence, and hostilities appeared to be extending to Sudan's east and west.
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By Mehran Mazari
Here is the most recent information on the war in Sudan.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Fighting erupted across Sudan's capital and in the restive western Darfur region on Sunday, as months of increasing tensions between factions of the country's armed forces erupted into all-out war, snuffing out remaining hopes for a transition to civilian government.
As the fatal fighting in Sudan reached its second day, it was unclear who controlled the African country, with rival armed factions claiming control of critical military and civilian sites. At least 56 people were killed and almost 600 were injured, largely in Khartoum, the capital, where inhabitants hid in their houses all night and the smell of gunpowder and ash hung in the air.
"We have no idea what's going on," Dallia Mohamed Abdelmoniem, a resident of the Al Almarat neighborhood near Khartoum's airport, shouted over the roar of a fighter jet tearing through the sky, over the phone. On Sunday morning, she and her family remained crouched in the middle of their home, fearful that bullets would fly through the windows.
Sudan, a huge, vital state that serves as a bridge between north and sub-Saharan Africa, had only four years earlier seen a joyous public movement depose the universally despised ruler of three decades, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. However, aspirations for democracy and an end to Sudan's international isolation were dashed 18 months ago when the country's two most prominent generals joined forces in a coup to seize control.
Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army head, and Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, the commander of the formidable paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, are now at odds.
Other developments include:
- Fighting appeared to be expanding over Darfur's vast western area, where Mr. al-Bashir's administration conducted a campaign of murderous slaughter that began in 2003. Reports of violence in the region's major cities and many minor towns are especially concerning because Darfur is home to several strongly armed rebel groups that analysts fear will become entangled in the conflict.
- Sudan's neighbors attempted to jump-start diplomatic efforts on Sunday, with the African Union and a separate regional body holding emergency meetings and Egypt and South Sudan proposing to mediate between warring factions. However, neither party has expressed a readiness to meet for negotiations. General Hamdan informed a television channel that there would be no talks with the army's commander, General al-Burhan, and that "he should surrender."
- The United Nations Security Council released a statement denouncing the violence and urged both sides to resume talks, a rare show of unity in an era when the council's five permanent members are divided over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
- Sudan has had more successful coups than any other African country since its independence in 1956. Mr. al-Bashir assassinated a democratically elected government in a bloodless military coup in 1989. His demise in 2019 ushered in a brief moment of optimism before the two generals regained power in 2021, destroying Sudan's enthusiasm and depriving it of billions of dollars in foreign help and debt relief.
