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Dallia Abdelmoniem has not left the house since Saturday.
The baker-turned-journalist lives in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, where rival forces have been fighting for control of the country since Saturday.
“With all the guns and artillery and jet fighters, it seems like a Hollywood production, but it’s not. It’s true what’s happening outside – outside our homes and our homes and in the middle of our capital,” Abdelmoniem told As it happens host Nil Köksal is there.
“This is a new phenomenon for all of us in Khartoum. But now, this is the reality we live with.”
As it happens6:29 a.m‘It’s surreal,’ said a Sudanese woman hiding in her house amid the clashes
Abdelmoniem is not alone. Across the city, people are hiding in homes, schools or other buildings as fighting rages around them, threatening to plunge Africa’s third-largest country into civil war.
Many have run out of food and water, and must choose not to have basic necessities or risk their lives to restock. Others, still, are powerless.
Meanwhile, residents say bodies have been left in the streets, unreachable because of the clashes – suggesting a higher toll than the more than 185 deaths reported so far by the United Nations.
How did this come about?
The key players in these clashes are the Sudanese army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan; and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti.
In October 2021, the two groups joined forces to stage a coup against Sudan’s transitional government. It undermined Sudan’s efforts to transition to democracy after longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled in a separate coup in 2019.
Both generals have a long history of human rights abuses, and their forces have attacked pro-democracy activists.
Under international pressure, Burhan and Dagalo recently agreed to an internationally-backed plan to hand over power and launch a new transitional government with civilian parties.
The final deal was supposed to be signed earlier this month, but has been repeatedly delayed as tensions rise over the integration of the RSF into the armed forces and future chain of command.
The tension erupted into violence on Saturday. Both sides pinned the blame on each other.
Aid workers are trapped, attacked
Aid worker Katharina von Schroeder was driving the eight-year-old to school for tennis lessons on Saturday when the violence broke out. On Tuesday, he was still there, along with several parents, children and other school staff.
“Now my plan, together with my friends who are also trapped here, is just to stay safe because there is not much we can do. It is too dangerous to go out,” von Schroeder, who works as a spokesman. for Save the Children, told Köksal.
On Tuesday, Arab media reported that the two factions had agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire. But when Von Schroeder spoke to the CBC on Tuesday afternoon, he said the fight isn’t over.
“I heard planes flying, I heard strikes and detonations, so it seemed unbearable,” he said.
She focused, she said, on keeping her son and other children safe, and distracting them from the sounds of the war outside with toys and YouTube videos.
“As a mother, I’m really concerned about my child’s physical and emotional well-being,” von said Schroeder said. “But I also feel for all the other parents in this city, not just us, but millions of people.”
As it happens6:37 a.mAid workers trapped in Khartoum school say many others are ‘worse than us’
Other aid workers in the country have been targeted, according to the UN.
Martin Griffiths, the UN’s head of humanitarian affairs and emergency aid coordinator, said on Tuesday the organization had “received reports of assaults and sexual violence against aid workers.”
“This is unacceptable and must stop,” Griffith posted on Twitter.
‘There is no value to our lives’
The battle also coincided with Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
“We are trying to take advantage of Ramadan to try to continue our faith and prayers,” Mohammed Al Faki, one of 89 students and staff trapped in an engineering building at the University of Khartoum, told The Associated Press. “We are trying to help each other to be patient until this crisis is over.”
One student was killed by a sniper, he said, and was buried on campus. Students and staff tried to stay inside, but, they said, they had to go for supplies occasionally, risking being harassed by RSF fighters fighting nearby forces.
WATCH | ‘This is our new normal,’ Khartoum residents say:
The conflict in Sudan means that some residents do not have easy access to water and are unsure how the conflict will end. ‘This is now the new normal,’ said one Khartoum resident.
In addition to the 185 deaths, the UN estimates 1,800 people have been injured since Saturday. The organization does not provide for the separation of civilians and combatants. The Sudanese Doctors Syndicate said on Tuesday that at least 144 civilians had been killed and more than 1,400 wounded, but that many of the dead remained unaccounted for.
“There is no value to our lives,” said Farah Abbas, 65, gathered at her home in Khartoum’s Mamoura district. “No one can go out and bury the dead bodies lying on the streets.”
‘Stuck in the middle’
Abdelmoniem, a former journalist, was buried with his niece and nephew at his home near the airport, where the fiercest fighting took place. Already, he said he found a bullet in the backyard.
He said he hoped outside diplomacy with a strong hand could bring both sides back to the table.
In part, he said he blames the violence on the international community for treating RSF leader Dagalo “like an entity, but he should be treated like a warlord.”
Then again, he said the army was “brutal” and had been fueled by what he called “remnants of the old regime.”
“And we’re the ones stuck in the middle,” Abdelmoniem said.
With files from The Associated Press. Interview with Dallia Abdelmoniem and Katharina von Schroeder produced by Chris Harbord.
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