Bombing, explosions and hunger a month after the start of the war in Sudan
Sudanese farmers harvest crops in the Al-Qalaa area of the River Nile state, and street vendors sell vegetables and fruits in the Kassala central market. Farmers and sellers in the regions face the effects of the ongoing fighting in Sudan amid high prices, fuel shortages and deteriorating living conditions.
Doctors Without Borders says that the Darfur displaced in the camps “are now eating one meal a day instead of three meals.”
The United Nations has warned that hunger will affect 19 million Sudanese within six months, if the war continues.
According to the United Nations humanitarian agency, prices of basic commodities such as basic foodstuffs and water have increased by 60 percent or more due to supply challenges.
Jaafar, a Sudanese activist, praises the steadfastness and solidarity of the people of the eastern state of Kassala.
He added, “Today in Kassala state there were attempts to take advantage of the crisis, but thank God the community in Kassala and the fact that people know each other prevented exploitation and greed in the market. I hope the situation will return to normal. Our information is that there are sufficient supplies of basic necessities in Kassala State.”
The war between the army commander, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Lieutenant General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, left more than 750 dead and thousands wounded, in addition to nearly a million displaced persons and refugees.
Ali Verjee, a researcher at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg, said the fighting caused “partial deindustrialization” in the country, which means that “Sudan in the future will be poorer for a longer period.”
Across Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world, 45 million people live in fear and suffer from food crises bordering on hunger.
A sharp rise in prices
Liquidity became scarce. Banks, some of which were looted, have not opened their doors since the fifteenth of April, while prices have risen sharply, reaching four times for foodstuffs and 20 times for fuel.
The five million residents of Khartoum live in hiding in their homes, awaiting a cease-fire that has not yet been achieved, while air raids, battles with heavy weapons, and artillery fire continue, which even reach hospitals and homes.
According to the United Nations, the number of internally displaced persons fleeing the battles has exceeded 700,000, and refugees to neighboring countries have reached 200,000.
In addition to Khartoum and Darfur, the clashes spread to other regions. Ethnic violence resulted in the states of West Kordofan and White Nile, killing more than fifty people, according to the United Nations.
The clashes in Sudan raise concerns about stability in the region.
Hamdan Muhammad, who fled the battles in Khartoum to Port Sudan, complained, “We are left on the road under the sun,” adding, “We demand organizations to evacuate us from Sudan because the country is completely destroyed. There is no food, no work…nothing there.”
A month after the battles, Al-Burhan announced the freezing of the assets of the Rapid Support Forces, whose interests, analysts say, include gold mines in Sudan.
deindustrialization and deindustrialization
Every day, thousands of refugees enter Egypt, Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan, which are the border countries with Sudan, which raises the concern of Cairo, which is experiencing the worst economic crisis in its history, while other countries fear that the contagion of war will spread to the rebel movements there.
There is no longer an airport in Khartoum, nor foreigners, after they were all hastily evacuated in the first days of the fighting, nor commercial centers, as they were all looted.
Likewise, government departments were closed “until further notice,” and the two generals spoke only to exchange accusations through the media.
The rest of the state administrations have moved to Port Sudan, 850 kilometers east on the Red Sea coast.
There, a small team from the United Nations seeks to negotiate the passage of humanitarian aid, and some ministers and senior officials hold daily press conferences in which they are keen to send messages of reassurance.
