Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s de facto president, dismissed Mohamed Hamdan Daglo on Friday as soldiers loyal to the dueling generals continued battling in both Khartoum and Darfur.
With assistance head Martin Griffith releasing $22 million in emergency cash to assist Sudanese escaping the violence, the UN has issued a warning that humanitarian needs are growing in the country.
The power battle between Burhan and Daglo, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has led to more than 1 million people being displaced, according to the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR). Since the battle started more than a month ago, hundreds have died.
In the unstable Darfur area, where armed citizens have also entered the conflict, igniting ethnic and tribal tensions, witnesses reported gunfire exchanges on Friday in both the capital Khartoum and Darfur.
RSF forces are reportedly attempting to drive Burhan’s soldiers out of its headquarters in the capital Zalingei in Central Darfur.
According to Sudan’s doctors syndicate, fighting killed 18 people in the South Darfur city Nyala on Thursday. Conflicts continued on Friday, witnesses told AFP.
Peacekeeping efforts
efforts for a humanitarian cease-fire have been ignored by the ongoing carnage despite regional and international efforts.
Since veteran leader Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by the military in 2019, Sudan has been engulfed in political and economic unrest.
After a shaky transition to civilian government was halted two years later by a coup led by Burhan and Daglo, soldiers loyal to the two men have been engaged in ferocious combat since April 15.
A humanitarian cease-fire has been negotiated by representatives of the opposing generals in Saudi Arabia, which convened an Arab conference on Friday.
When questioned about those discussions, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan stated that the goal was “on reaching a truce that allows Sudanese civilians to take a breather.”
After the Sudanese foreign ministry objected to South Sudan’s hosting of a Daglo delegation earlier this week, South Sudan on Friday defended its own efforts to mediate a peace agreement.
South Sudan’s government “has continued to play its part within (East African bloc) IGAD with absolute impartiality,” the foreign ministry in Juba stated in a statement.
Salva Kiir, the president of South Sudan, and representatives from IGAD met with Daglo’s ambassador Yusif Isha on Wednesday in Juba.
With neither side looking to have the upper hand, Burhan dismissed Daglo and nominated three supporters to senior military positions on Friday.
On its Facebook page, the ruling transitional Sovereignty Council said that General Burhan had issued a constitutional order designating Malik Agar to the position of vice-president.
The military further said that General Shamsedding Kabashi was named as Burhan’s deputy and that he also selected two additional devoted officers to serve as his aides.
crisis intervention
Former rebel commander Agar, who served as governor of the bordering state of Blue Nile in South Sudan, reached a peace agreement with Khartoum in 2020 and was elected to the Sovereignty Council in February 2021.
He is in charge of the SPLM-North’s northern branch, which was established in 2011 by fighters in the campaign that won South Sudan its independence.
Observers view Agar’s promotion as a symbolic action that won’t have an impact on the rivalry between Burhan and Daglo.
With so many Sudanese fleeing the violence, the United Nations has expressed concern that the situation in Khartoum could spread to nearby nations. It reissued its pleas for respecting the safety of anybody caught in the line of fire.
Since the fighting began more than a month ago, Matthew Saltmarsh, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency, said, “UNHCR… is making an urgent appeal for the safety of civilians and to allow humanitarian aid to move freely in Sudan.”
According to him, over a million people have been displaced within Sudan or taken in as refugees by neighboring nations.
People are risking their lives to leave dangerous areas like Darfur and Khartoum inside of Sudan, according to Saltmarsh.
On Twitter, U.N. aid head Stephen Griffiths said that he was “allocating $22 million… to support relief efforts in Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt, and South Sudan,” where Sudanese have sought asylum.
On Friday, the US pledged to provide $103 million to Sudan and its neighbors to aid displaced people.
