The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that operated as a militia during the height of the Darfur conflict but was recently incorporated with the formal military, have been engaged in combat since early on Saturday, April 15, in Sudan.
The world over, officials have made statements expressing their concern over the situation in Sudan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 21 chaired a high-level meeting to review the security of Indians in violence-hit Sudan. Those present at the meeting with the Prime Minister were the Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, the Chief of Naval Staff, Ajit Gupte, the Ambassador of Egypt to India, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, and the Foreign Secretary.
An unspecified number of Indians are said to be stranded in the country amid the military and political crisis. Jaishankar on April 20, said that the Indian government is in continuous touch with its citizens stuck in Sudan where fighting has been raging between forces loyal to Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In his first statement, since severe fighting broke out between his forces and the nation’s potent paramilitary about a week ago, Sudan’s top general declared on April 21 that the military is dedicated to a transition to civilian rule.
The military’s declaration increased the probability of another upsurge in the nearly week-long bloodshed, which has claimed hundreds of lives and destabilized Sudan’s population. After a week of fighting between two factions of the country’s military leadership at least 400 people have been killed. Witnesses say gunfire continues in Khartoum.