JEDDAH: Diplomatic efforts intensified on Thursday to extend the fragile ceasefire in Sudan as new fighting raged in the war-ravaged Darfur region.
Armed fighters rampaged through the Darfur city of Genena, shooting at each other and looting shops and homes. Residents said the fighting was dragging in tribal militias, tapping into longtime hatreds between the region’s Arab and African communities.
Fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked neighborhoods across Genena, driving families from their homes. The violence then spiraled with tribal fighters joining the battles. “The attacks come from all directions,” said Amany, a Genena resident. “All are fleeing.”
It was often unclear who was fighting whom, with a mix of RSF and tribal militias — some allies of the RSF, some opponents — all running rampant. The military had largely withdrawn to its barracks and residents were taking up arms to defend themselves, said Dr. Salah Tour of the Doctors’ Syndicate in West Darfur.
Fighters, some on motorcycles, roamed the streets, destroying and ransacking offices, shops and homes. “It’s a scorched earth war,” said Adam Haroun, a political activist in West Darfur. “The city is being destroyed.”
In the capital Khartoum and its neighboring city Omdurman, the ceasefire has brought a significant easing of fighting for the first time since the military and the RSF began fighting on April 15, turning residential neighborhoods into battlegrounds.
The relative calm has allowed foreign governments to bring thousands of people to safety. Saudi Arabia alone has rescued nearly 3,000 refugees by air and sea.
An East African initiative was pressing to extend the truce for another three days. The head of the military, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, said he had accepted the proposal, but there was no response from his rival, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Thousands of people, mainly Sudanese, have been waiting at the border to cross north into Egypt. At the International University of Africa in Khartoum, where thousands of students are waiting to leave, there is no food, water or power. “Even as we sit here, almost everywhere you can hear gunshots. We are not safe here,” said Nigerian law student Umar Yusuf Yaru, 24.
At least 512 civilians and combatants have been killed since the fighting began, and another 4,200 injured.
