Mapping the heavy fighting in Sudan

Sudan’s army and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have clashed in the capital and other cities.

Sudan satellite image of destroyed airport
[Maxar Technologies via AP]

At least 185 people have been killed and a further 1,800 injured in three days of fighting between rival factions across Sudan, according to the United Nations special representative for Sudan.

The power struggle has pitted General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the armed forces commander, against General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group.

Fighting broke out after bitter disagreements between al-Burhan and Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, about the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army – a key condition for a final deal aimed at ending a crisis that has been continuing since the 2021 coup.

The map below shows areas where fighting has been reported across the country.

INTERACTIVE_SUDAN_FIGHTING_APRIL18_2023-1681819889
[Al Jazeera]

Khartoum

On Saturday morning, fighting erupted at a military base south of Khartoum, the country’s capital.

Since then, millions of people have been trapped in their homes or wherever they could find shelter, with supplies running low in many areas.

Emergency services have been stopped at al-Shaab Hospital and al-Khartoum Hospital after they were bombed on April 17. Al-Shaab Hospital near the army command building was subjected to continuous shelling that injured staff and patients.

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Ahmed Omar Khojaly, a journalist and political analyst in Khartoum, has told Al Jazeera that water and electricity cuts as well as “the inability of those injured to reach hospitals” is creating “a humanitarian crisis”.

satellite photo by Planet Labs PBC shows fires burning near a hospital in Khartoum,
Fires burning near a hospital in Khartoum, Sudan, Sunday, April 16, 2023 [Planet Labs PBC via AP]

Heavy fighting was also reported in and around Khartoum International Airport, where satellite imagery showed passenger planes completely destroyed. Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority closed the country’s airspace after the airport came under attack on Saturday.

Sudan
Burning buildings and military patrol northeast of Khartoum International Airport, Sudan, Monday, April 17, 2023 [Maxar Technologies via AP]
Khartoum Airport
[Reuters]

Merowe

Battles have also been waging in the northern city of Merowe.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent Osama Sid Ahmed, reporting from Merowe airport, said there have been air attacks on a number of RSF ground targets in the area.

“There is a state of almost total paralysis in the city of Merowe. We can now hear artillery bombardment in the area of the airport. It is unknown which side launched it,” he said on Tuesday.

Sudan
Burning and destroyed MiG aeroplanes in the Merowe Airport in Merowe, Sudan, Monday, April 17, 2023 [Maxar Technologies via AP]

Across the country

According to OCHA, significant clashes were reported in al-Fasher in North Darfur, el-Obeid in North Kordofan, Nyala in South Darfur, and Kassala in Kassala State.

On Sunday, three employees of the World Food Programme were killed in a crossfire at a military base in Kabkabiya in western Sudan.

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On the eastern side of the country, gunfire was heard in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, where the Sudanese army says it has captured a strategic RSF base.

Fighting has also been reported in Gadariff, Damazin and Kosti.

Source: Al Jazeera

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