'Intense fighting in Khartoum' as Sudan ceasefire expires
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Transcript
00:00 other news now, fighting has intensified in several areas of Khartoum after a
00:04 ceasefire deal expired. This is activists said a new outburst of violence in the
00:09 north Darfur state had left at least 40 people dead. The worsening clashes come
00:14 as a temporary truce between the two warring sides ended on Saturday with
00:20 talks to extend it breaking down on Friday. Our regional correspondent
00:24 Bastien Renier spoke to us earlier.
00:28 Well I can tell you that the fighting were very intense this weekend in Khartoum.
00:33 My contacts in the capital tell me that they could hear gunshots and many
00:38 explosions. I was on the phone yesterday with a doctor who was living in Khartoum
00:43 north and she said that there were more and more rapid support forces and members
00:47 in the street of her neighborhood. These men were trying to hide in civilian
00:51 houses, trying to escape from the bombardments from the Sudanese military
00:56 and she said that her family and many of the neighbors had to escape to an area
01:01 controlled by the army because the RSF are looting more and more houses, they
01:05 are assaulting many civilians, they're raping women. There are more and more
01:09 reports of these men attacking civilians in the capital as the fighting continues.
01:15 That's for the situation in Khartoum but let's also mention what's happening in
01:19 Darfur. It's still very difficult to know what's happening on the ground because
01:23 most of the telecommunication infrastructures have been destroyed by
01:26 the clashes. We know that very intense fighting erupted in the city of Khartoum
01:32 during the weekend. It's a city located in north Darfur. At least 40 civilians
01:36 were killed by the rapid support forces. Many more were injured and taken to
01:40 hospitals in the city of El Fashir. It's the capital of north Darfur. So it seems
01:46 that the rapid support forces now have the full control of the city of Khartoum.
01:51 In El Fashir, fighting continued last week as well, injuring many civilians
01:56 displacing tens of thousands of people as well. Let's also mention
02:01 the situation in the city of El Djenina. It's the capital of west Darfur located a
02:06 few kilometers from the border with Chad. The city is still surrounded by rapid
02:10 support forces members and local militias that are allied to the RSF and
02:15 it's still very difficult to know what's happening on the ground because there is
02:18 no phone network at all. But according to our colleagues from Radio Dabanga, it's a
02:24 radio specialized on Darfur, more than 440 civilians were killed during the
02:29 past weeks and many more were injured. And tens of thousands would like to
02:33 escape from the city but it's still not possible at the moment because it's
02:36 still surrounded by a rapid support forces.