Sudan conflict: Sudanese fleeing clashes flood port city, borders with Egypt

Sudanese fleeing the fighting between rival generals in their capital flooded an already overwhelmed city on the Red Sea and Sudans northern borders with Egypt as explosions and gunfire echoed Tuesday in KhartoumMany exhausted Sudanese and foreigners arrived in Port Sudan the countrys main seaport joining thousands who have waited for days to be evacuated out of the chaosstricken nation Others have been driven in packed buses and trucks seeking shelter in Egypt Sudans northern neighbourMuch of the capital has become emptyiquest said Abdalla alFatih a Khartoum resident iquestall residents of our street fled the warThe fighting now in its third week has turned Khartoum and its neighbouring city of Omdurman into a battlefield Fierce clashes taking place inside residential neighbourhoods that have become ghost areas residents sayThe conflict which capped months of worsening tensions pits the military led by Gen AbdelFattah Burhan against a rival paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces commanded by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo AlFatihs family managed to get out of Khartoum over the weekend after they spent the past two weeks trapped in their home in Khartoums neighbourhood of Kafouri a major flashpoint since the fighting broke out on April 15They arrived in Port Sudan late Monday after an exhausting 20hour trip he said There they found thousands including many women and children camping outside the port area Many had been there for more than a week with no food and other services he saidPort Sudan has become a hub for foreign governments to evacuate their citizens air and sea At the congested crossing points with Egypt thousands of families have waited for days inside buses or sought temporary shelter in the border city of Wadi Halfa to finalize their paperwork to be allowed into EgyptYusuf AbdelRahman is a Sudanese university student who crossed into Egypt along his family through the Ashkit crossing point late Monday They spent their night at a community hostel in Egypts southern city of Aswan and plan to board a train to Cairo later Tuesday he saidAbdelRahmans family went first to the Arqin crossing point over the weekend It was overcrowded and they couldnt reach the customs area They then decided to move to the Ashkit crossing after they heard from people there that the crossing would be easier he saidIts a chaotic situation in Arqin he said over the phone Women children and patients are stranded in the desert with no food no water AbdelRahman reported widespread destruction and looting particularly in upscale neighbourhood in the capital He said a neighbour told them by phone said armed men in RSF uniform stormed their home in Khartoums Amarat neighbourhood on Friday a day after they fled the capitalMany Sudanese have taken to social media to complain that their homes were stormed and looted by armed men We are luckyiquest that they didnt at home at the time of storming he said We could be ended up dead bodiesThe fighting has displaced at least 334000 people inside Sudan and sent tens of thousands more to neighbouring countries including Egypt Chad South Sudan Central African Republic and Ethiopia according to UN agenciesNow were seeing some extremely fastmoving situations along the borders said Paul Dillon spokesman for the International Organization for Migration told a news briefing on Tuesday in GenevaAt the Sudanese borders with Ethiopia he said between 900 and 1000 arrive daily at the border with Ethiopia where theres a desperate lack of wash services food shelter water medical assistanceAlso readCivilian death toll in Sudan reaches 411 2K injuredThe UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned that the number of people fleeing the conflict to neighbouring countries could surpass 800000We hope it doesnt come to that but if violence doesnt stop we will see more people forced to flee Sudan seeking safety he wrote on Twitter on MondayEarly Tuesday the sounds of explosions and gunfire echoed though many parts of the capital with fierce clashes taking place around the militarys headquarters the international airport and the Republican Palace in Khartoum residents reported The militarys warplanes were seen flying overhead across the capital they saidThe fighting has come despite both sides declared Sunday a second threeday extension of a humanitarian ceasefire to allow safe corridors for healthcare workers and aid agencies working in the capitalThe war never stopped said Atiya Abdalla Atiya Secretary of the Doctors Syndicate Doctors cans move safely Hospitals were still occupiedMorgues across the capital are overcrowded with dead bodies and people were still unable to collect their dead to bury he said Many injured also did not have access to hospitals he addedAt least 436 civilians have been killed and more than 1200 injured since the fighting began according to figures on Monday by the Doctors Syndicate which tracks civilian casualtiesAs of a week ago the Sudanese Health Ministry had counted at least 530 people killed including civilians and combatants with another 4500 wounded but those figures havent been updated sinceThe truce extension was a result of increasing international pressure on rival generals to stop fighting and engage in negotiation amid worsening humanitarian disaster Both sides agreed to send representatives for talks potentially in Saudi Arabia which joined the United States in pressing for ceasefire according the UN envoy in Sudan Volker PerthesThe power struggle has derailed Sudans efforts to restore its democratic transition which was derailed in October 2021 when then allied generals Burhan and Dagalo removed a western backed transitional government in a coupThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the 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