KHARTOUM-Gun battles and explosions again rocked Sudan’s capital Monday despite the latest truce formally agreed between the warring parties as the United Nations warned the humanitarian crisis had brought the country near its “breaking point”.
The chaos and bloodshed, now in their third week, have sparked a mass exodus of tens of thousands of Sudanese to neighbouring countries including Egypt, Chad and Central African Republic. More than 500 people have been reported killed since fighting erupted on April 15 between Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Millions of Sudanese around the capital and beyond have sheltered in their homes with dwindling food and water and frequent power cuts, as fighter jets thundering through the sky on bombing raids have drawn heavy anti-aircraft fire.
On donkeys or horses, by cart or by foot, hundreds of Sudanese, most of them women and children, each day cross a small, dry stream to find safety in neighbouring Chad.
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As of Monday, at least 20,000 people had found refuge at a makeshift camp in the Chadian border village of Koufroun, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNCHR, which manages their influx along with other UN agencies.
The village lies a few hundred metres (yards) from the border with West Darfur, which with the capital Khartoum is among the worst-hit provinces in the Sudan conflict. Most of those arriving have come from the Sudanese town of Tendelti, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) away -- the theatre of intense fighting between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his ex-deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Many show up empty-handed -- a sign of a desperate getaway.
The UN says at least 100 people were killed in West Darfur in the past week. The toll may be far higher, but information from the area is lacking. Some carry belongings and provisions on the arduous trek in the overwhelming Sahelian heat.
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They search for shelter under huge but rare acacia trees, under which their predecessors and humanitarian workers have set up makeshift camps.