By Sylvia Chebet
The conflict in Sudan enters its fifth month with incessant air strikes, artillery and gunfire bringing the country to its knees and leaving more than 3,000 civilians dead with 4.3 million others rendered homeless.
The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has also left more than 12,000 others maimed and injured, according to aid agencies. The United Nations has called it one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
The “disastrous, senseless war in Sudan, born out of a wanton drive for power, has resulted in thousands of deaths, the destruction of family homes, schools, hospitals and other essential services, massive displacement, as well as sexual violence, in acts which may amount to war crimes,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned in a statement.
Humanitarian crisis
The conflict between the army and the paramilitary group quickly shifted Sudan's status from a refugee host nation to one churning out millions of refugees.
More than one million refugees lived in the country before the war broke out on April 15 but now, 4.3 million people, including some of the refugees have been displaced.
UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler says nearly a million have fled to neighbouring countries including Chad, Egypt, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and South Sudan while 3.2 million others are internally displaced within Sudan.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says six million people in the country ''are one step away from famine.''
‘Death sentence’
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that some 67% of hospitals in the affected areas were out of service, leaving “tens of thousands of people” with no access to healthcare.
The WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris further noted that the UN agency had verified 53 attacks on health-care facilities, adding that 11 people have been killed and 38 injured in such attacks.
In the context of “insecurity, population displacement and non-functional laboratories”, Dr Harris sounded the alarm about the difficulty of controlling ongoing outbreaks of measles, malaria and dengue.
Conditions are even more dangerous for children, she said, with about one-third of under five-year-olds now chronically malnourished. “Measles and malnourishment equals a death sentence for children under five,” she said.
Pregnant women
Some 260,000 women are now pregnant and almost 100,000 are expected to give birth in the next three months.
Without critical services, including hospitals and safe delivery, “their lives and those of their children and the babies that are going to be the future generation are severely at risk,” Laila Baker, Regional Director for The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said.
The threat of sexual violence is an additional danger for women and girls. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) recorded 32 incidents of sexual violence against 73 victims by the start of August. This includes at least 28 incidents of rape.
Men in Rapid Support Forces (RSF) uniforms were implicated in at least 19 incidents as perpetrators, but “the actual number of cases is likely much higher,” OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell said.
Possible War Crimes
The stakes are high in Sudan as supremacy battle between the army and the paramilitary forces continue. This is complicating efforts to resolve the conflict, international relations and conflict resolution expert Dr. Mustafa Ali told TRT Afrika.
''Each side appears focused on crushing the other,'' Dr. Ali who heads a conflict resolution centre, the Horn Institute reckons said.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has stated that attacks on civilians, looting of humanitarian supplies, and targeting of aid workers and hospitals throughout the past four months “may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
The conflict has entered its fifth month and there is still no clear sign of resolution in sight. Numerous ceasefires had been announced but most failed to hold with intense fighting continuing.
But mediators appear relentless with US and Saudi Arabia continuing their efforts in Jedda while the regional bloc, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) hold talks in Ethiopia all aimed at ensuring peace in Sudan.
Mutual accusations
Meanwhile, both sides to the deadly conflict trade accusations of committing atrocities against civilians and dishonouring ceasefires.
The RSF accuses the army of harming civilians through its use of warplanes and heavy artillery to bomb Khartoum State.
The military on the other side accuses the RSF of killing civilians by firing missiles into residential areas, and then blaming the army for the attacks and looting homes and businesses.
Experts warn that the conflict risks being forgotten by the international community due to continued stalemate and lesser media attention.
The army and RSF had shared power after toppling of former long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019. But the two sides fell out over a plan to integrate their forces during a transition to democracy leading to the current conflict.
Both the army and the RSF command need reach an ''agreement'' by making a ''compromise,” in order to end the bloodshed, Dr Ali suggests.
