Army warplanes bombed the Sudanese city of El Obeid Wednesday, as the country prepared to mark two months of suffering since a power struggle between rival generals plunged the country into a devastating war.
Since April 15, the regular army headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have been locked in urban combat that has left whole neighbourhoods of the capital Khartoum unrecognisable. The fighting quickly spread to the provinces, particularly the western region of Darfur, and has killed at least 1,800 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project's (ACLED) latest figures from last month. On Wednesday, the regular army carried out air strikes for the first time in El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, which has been surrounded by the RSF since the war began, witnesses told AFP.
In another escalation, the army accused RSF of killing the governor of West Darfour state, calling it a "brutal act."
Nationwide, around 2.2 million people have fled their homes, more than one million of them escaping Khartoum, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Of those, more than 528,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring countries, according to the UN agency.
Those that remain have run out of food, water and medicine, Khartoum resident Ahmed Taha told AFP.
"We have nothing left. The entire country has been completely devastated," Taha said. "Everywhere you look, you'll see where bombs have fallen and bullets have struck. Every inch of Sudan is a disaster area."
US and Saudi mediation efforts are at a standstill after the collapse of multiple ceasefires in the face of flagrant violations by both sides.
Aid agencies have pleaded for the opening of safe humanitarian corridors to allow assistance in but to no avail. Entire districts of Khartoum no longer have running water, mains electricity is only available for a few hours a week and most hospitals in combat zones are not functioning.
A record 25 million people -- more than half the population -- are in need of aid, according to the UN, which says it has received only a fraction of needed funding. Saudi Arabia has announced an international pledging conference for next week.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese army on Wednesday accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of “kidnapping and assassinating” the governor of West Darfur state, nearly two months after a power struggle between rival generals plunged the country into a devastating war. The killing of Khamis Abdullah Abakar meant the RSF has added a “new chapter to its record of barbaric crimes that it has been committing against all the Sudanese people,” the army said on Facebook, calling the incident a “brutal act.”
