Sudan crisis: Nearly 100 killed, more than 1000 injured; Egyptian soldiers captured

Nearly 100 people have been killed as clashes between Sudanese military forces and a paramilitary group (RSF) continue for the third day, reported BBC.

According to a doctors’ union, more than 1000 people have been injured since the violence began on early Saturday including three UN World Food Programme workers that sparked international outcry.

Meanwhile on early Sunday, both the army agreed on a temporary ceasefire to provide a safe passage to evacuate wounded citizens.

RSF has also captured several Egyptian soldiers near Merowe airport who were there for the joint military training exercises with the Sudanese military, according to a Twitter video posted on Saturday afternoon.

Merowe airport serves as a base for joint military exercises for the two armies.

Ibrahim Al-Shwaimi, a former Egyptian assistant minister of foreign affairs, issued statements to the media, clarifying that the detained Egyptian troops were not party to the ongoing conflict but just to carry out the joint training exercises with the Sudanese military.

Since the violence erupted on Saturday, machine guns and tanks started rolling through streets of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, home for more than 5.2 million people. According to media reports airstrikes and artillery fire started from all sides killing civilians with children trapped inside schools and shattered telecommunication services in the country.

Though, the conflict dates back to history, the latest tension between Sudanese Armed Forces and RSF began over the timetable for and hierarchy of the RSF’s full integration into the Sudanese military as April 2023 was set as the date for Sudan’s transition to a civilian-led government during 2021 coup.

In 2021, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of RSF seized power and implemented a military junta, after former Sudanese President Omar Bashir was deposed during a 2019 revolution and replaced by an interim government.

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