Khartoum / Omdurman / El Obeid / Arbaji — As fighting continues in Khartoum, Omdurman, and El Obeid, some markets in the Sudanese capital witnessed significant price drops due to an influx of goods from El Gezira, where the RSF has been condemned for "terrible aggression" against civilians.
Military operations continued intermittently between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since yesterday morning in separate areas of the capital, where large explosions were heard in central Khartoum, and smoke clouds rose in the vicinity of the General Command.
Sources confirmed to Radio Dabanga the outbreak of battles in the Omdurman area opposite the Halfaya bridge.
Others reported RSF artillery shelling on the army site at El Mohandiseen, while other sources spoke of an army attack on RSF positions in old, central Omdurman.
Clashes also broke out between the SAF and RSF in El Obeid, North Kordofan, yesterday. An informed source told Radio Dabanga about an exchange of artillery shelling.
"The armed forces have carried out extensive bombing operations in the northwestern neighbourhoods of the city, where the RSF are stationed."
"All communication and electricity networks have been cut off for a week. There is a shortage of fuel and basic goods, accompanied by a rise in prices of consumer and essential goods."
Price drops
The prices of some basic commodities such as sugar and cooking oil fell this week. The price of a 50kg sack of sugar fell from SDG120,000 to SDG35,000.
Traders who spoke to Radio Dabanga attributed the drop in prices to the influx of some goods from El Gezira. Large quantities of looted materials from El Gezira, which has been under RSF control since December 19, were reportedly on sale in the Goro and Dagalo markets in Khartoum.
A resident from Khartoum told Radio Dabanga that foodstuffs such as sugar, flour, and cooking oil were brought to the markets by affiliates of the RSF and sold at the lowest prices. Large areas of El Gezira, especially the capital, Wad Madani, have witnessed significant plundering since the RSF entered.
Looting and beating
Arbaji resistance committees in El Gezira reported looting and beating by a defected RSF unit yesterday.
The resistance committees said in a statement that the situation developed negatively on Monday morning, a few hours after the cautious calm that followed the visit of Abu Agla Keikel, the RSF commander and de facto ruler of El Gezira. Members of the RSF Emergency Committee reportedly pledged to recover the previous loot during Keikel's visit.
The statement explained that a defected RSF unit came to Arbaji after the visit, and launched a revenge campaign that included detention, torture, and interrogation of people to find out who communicated with Keikel and members of the Emergency Committee.
In April, residents of the village took to the streets to call "for an immediate end to the war." "We fear that Wad Madani, capital of El Gezira, once considered a safe haven for people fleeing extreme violence in Khartoum, is turning into another death trap," Pierre Dorbes, head of the ICRC delegation in Sudan said on Thursday.
Condemnation of violence
In a statement yesterday, the General Secretariat of the Ansar Affairs Authority* condemned attacks by the RSF on citizens' property and other humanitarian violations in El Gezira.
According to the statement, the RSF Command's reassurances that people can return to their homes with protection are not conducive to reality. The statement called on the RSF to stop the "terrible aggression" against civilians, hold the "uncontrolled perpetrators" accountable and establish security in the areas under their control. It also demanded the immediate return of stolen vehicles and property to their owners and compensation for the losses inflicted on innocent people, "because this war lacks any moral justification."
The statement stressed the need to withdraw the forces from cities and residential areas and restrict their movement in the state in the absence of another military force.
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It also called for stopping the mobilisation and arming of civilians because it is a seed of civil war, along with holding a summit meeting to combat hate speech, preserve the social fabric, and coordinate the efforts to end the war.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Wednesday that it has been forced to temporarily suspend food assistance in parts of El Gezira, because of the insecure situation in the state.
"This is a major setback to humanitarian efforts in the country's breadbasket, where WFP had been regularly providing aid to over 800,000 people, including many who escaped the fighting in Khartoum," the WFP statement reads.
About 300,000 people fled El Gezira during the RSF offensive on the state, which ended with its control of the state capital last week.
* In Sudan, ansar are followers of the Mahdi (the messianic redeemer of the Islamic faith) as Muslim leader Mohamed Ahmed bin Abdallah (1844-1885) was called by his disciples at the time.
