The Sudanese army brought in reinforcements to the capital, Khartoum, amid escalating artillery shelling following the collapse of the truce, in an attempt by the army commander, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, to make field progress at the expense of the Rapid Support Forces, apparently without heeding the warnings of the American side, which imposed sanctions with the aim of stopping the escalation.
Witnesses reported hearing “the sounds of artillery shelling in the vicinity of the radio and television building” in the suburb of Omdurman.

Khartoum and other areas in Sudan have been witnessing violent battles since April 15 between the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti”.
The battles have claimed more than 1,800 lives, according to the Armed Conflict Project website and event data. For its part, the United Nations reports that more than 1.2 million people have been internally displaced, while more than half a million people have sought refuge abroad.

The two sides reached more than one truce agreement, the latest of which was during talks in the city of Jeddah, mediated by Saudi Arabia and the United States. But the truce quickly collapsed every time, and clashes renewed, especially in Khartoum and the Darfur region in the west of the country.
In what appears to be a prelude to a possible further escalation in violence, the army announced on Friday that it had brought in reinforcements to participate in “operations in the central Khartoum area.”
Sudanese analyst Kholoud Khair of the “Confluence Advisory” center based in Khartoum, indicated that the army intends to “launch a massive attack soon (against the support forces), and for this reason it withdrew” from the negotiations in Jeddah.

And after holding the two parties to the conflict responsible for the collapse of the armistice and the talks in Jeddah, Washington announced Thursday the imposition of sanctions on companies and restrictions on entry visas for officials linked to the two parties to the conflict.
The economic sanctions target many companies in the industrial, defense and armament sectors, including the “Sudan Master Technology” company that supports the army.
Washington also imposed sanctions on Al-Junaid Mining Company, which operates several gold mines in the Darfur region.

Analysts question the feasibility of the sanctions, given the experience of the Sudanese in circumventing sanctions in light of international sanctions during the era of former President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades before the collapse of his rule in 2019. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday that the “bloodbath”
in Khartoum and Darfur “horrific”.

He pointed out that the recent breach of the armistice ”
Since the start of the violence, neither side has achieved tangible field progress at the expense of the other or breached the balance of power.
Analyst Kholoud Khair said that the army wants to achieve “some military gains before committing to any future talks with the aim of improving its position” at the negotiating table.
Shortly after announcing the suspension of its participation in the Jeddah talks, the army bombed with heavy artillery, on Wednesday, positions of the Rapid Support Forces in southern Khartoum.
The bombing hit a popular market, killing 18 civilians, according to emergency lawyers on Wednesday.
The Jeddah talks aimed at providing safe passages that allow civilians to leave combat zones and deliver humanitarian aid.

However, relief work faces many difficulties, including the absence of safe passages, customs obstruction of aid arriving by air, and the failure to grant entry visas to foreign workers to compensate for the shortage of locals who were forced to flee or take shelter in their homes.
Looting and theft continue, especially of the headquarters and warehouses of international organizations.
On Thursday, the Executive Director of the World Food Program condemned “the looting of the assets and food of the World Food Program that is taking place now in El-Obeid (North Kordofan),” adding on Twitter, “Our warehouses have been attacked, and food for 4.4 million people is at risk.”

According to the United Nations, Sudan, which was one of the most suffering countries in the world even before the conflict, is facing a “catastrophic” situation, with three-quarters of hospitals out of service, while 25 million people (more than half of the population) need humanitarian aid.
The international organization confirmed that it had obtained only 13 percent of the $2.6 billion it needed.
On Friday, the United Nations is scheduled to discuss the fate of its mission to Sudan, whose mission officially ends on Saturday.

Al-Burhan had asked the Secretary-General of the United Nations to replace Volker Peretz, the head of the mission, the majority of whose members left the country shortly after the outbreak of the conflict, after revealing the army’s violations on more than one front

The first appeared on alarab-co-uk