KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s capital has been devastated by a conflict between the army and paramilitary Rapid Response Forces (RSF) since mid-April.
Here is a timeline of major events since fighting began:
April 15 – After weeks of tensions building over a plan to hand power to civilians, heavy fighting erupts in Khartoum and clashes are reported in several other cities. RSF forces loyal to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, storm the residence of army chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, as they try to seize strategic sites in the heart of the capital.
April 16 – The U.N. World Food Programme announces that it is temporarily suspending operations in Sudan, one of its biggest programmes globally, after three of its staff were among aid workers killed in early fighting. The WFP says on May 1 that it is resuming work, later warning that up to 2.5 million more people in Sudan could slip into hunger.
April 18 – The first of multiple ceasefires is announced but gunfire echoes across Khartoum soon after it is due to come into effect, with both sides blaming the other for violating the truce. The fighting traps millions of civilians in their homes or neighbourhoods and leads to cuts to power, water and telecommunications, as well as a breakdown of law and order.
April 21 – The number of residents fleeing the fighting in Khartoum accelerates during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which comes at the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Many seek refuge in towns and cities outside Khartoum and some head for Sudan’s borders.
April 22 – The United States says special operations forces have evacuated all its embassy staff from Khartoum. France, Britain and other nations follow, leaving Sudanese worrying they will be left to fend for themselves.
April 25 – Ahmed Haroun, a former minister wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged crimes in Darfur, says that he and other ex-officials from ousted leader Omar al-Bashir’s administration have walked free from prison. Officials later confirm that Bashir, who is also wanted by the ICC, had been transferred to a military hospital before fighting began.
April 26 – Clashes, looting and the burning of houses is reported in several days of deadly violence in El Geneina, Darfur, amid concerns that the power struggle in Khartoum could fuel more killing and displacement in the western region of the country already scarred by years of conflict.
May 1 – The United Nations projects that more than 800,000 people could flee Sudan’s conflict to its seven neighbouring countries, and that more than 70,000 had already done so. The largest numbers head north to Egypt.
May 3 – U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths visits Port Sudan in a push to secure safe passage for humanitarian relief, saying he’s seeking public guarantees in face-to-face meetings with the warring parties.
May 5 – More than 1 million polio vaccines intended for children have been destroyed as a result of looting, UNICEF says, following warnings that the provision of medical care and hospital capacity is collapsing as a result of the fighting.
May 6 – The United States and Saudi Arabia announce the start of talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah aimed at securing corridors for humanitarian relief and an effective ceasefire.
May 9 – The IOM says 700,000 people have been internally displaced within Sudan. Sudan’s Banks Union condemns theft and looting at some bank branches, one example of the impact of the war on an economy that was already deep in crisis.
May 10 – Airstrikes and artillery fire rattle Khartoum as battles intensify, while a U.S. official says negotiators are “cautiously optimistic” about the talks in Jeddah.
(Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Edmund Blair)
