On April 15th warfare erupted in Khartoum, the capital Sudan. Such has been the intensity of the fighting that in just over a week the city has become battle-scared with a burgeoning humanitarian crisis. Citizens of other countries are being urged to evacuate and Irish citizens in Sudan are among those who have escaped the fighting in the past 48 hours.
At its heart, it’s a battle for control between two powerful military factions led by two power-hungry commanders – Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the army the Sudanese army and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Force. They were united in 2019 to oust the country’s former ruler, the autocratic Omar al-Bashir, but are now at war with each other to control the east African country with its 46 million citizens.
Instead of the democracy that so many Sudanese hoped for when Bashir was finally deposed, the people can now look forward to military rule. Declan Walsh, chief Africa correspondent for The New York Times, explains how the power struggle between the two men developed and what sparked the fighting.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.
