KHARTOUM: As the UN seeks to negotiate a ceasefire extension in war-torn Sudan and a key relief organisation is planning to provide more aid, an ethnic conflict has flared up in the state of West Darfur, the Sudanese army announced on Thursday.
Violence has broken out between the Masalit of African origin and groups of Arab origin in the western Sudanese state, according to reports. On Wednesday, the UN Special Envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, warned of looting, attacks on civilians and clashes between different ethnic groups in West Darfur.
The state of West Darfur is located in the far west of Sudan on the border with Chad. For decades, there have been serious ethnic conflicts throughout the Darfur region.
It comes after nearly two weeks of clashes in Sudan between de facto president Abdel Fattah al Burhan, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
With fighting ongoing, the international relief organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is planning to expand its aid response in Sudan, as western nations pull their nationals out of the country
Emergency teams are ready to travel to the embattled country on the Horn of Africa, the organisation said on Thursday.
MSF said it is in close contact with hospitals and Sudanese health authorities. Despite a ceasefire, fighting broke out again in parts of the country overnight.
UN special envoy Perthes told the BBC on Thursday that Sudanese forces had agreed to negotiations in the South Sudanese capital Juba with an eye toward extending the current ceasefire for another 72 hours.
Although the rival RSF have yet to respond, Perthes said he was confident the paramilitary group would take part in the negotiations.
There were only sporadic exchanges of gunfire in Khartoum on Thursday morning, a journalist in the capital reported. In the morning, however, the city was hit by air strikes again, according to media reports. The supply situation is still considered tense.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says at least 460 people have been killed and almost 4,100 injured in the fighting, which began almost a fortnight ago. The true number of victims, however, is believed to be much higher.
With this tense background numerous countries are moving their nationals and others out of the country. And while many nations have helped each other by evacuating each other's citizens, it hasn't all gone smoothly.
On Thursday, the British Ministry of Defence rejected German accusations that British moves delayed the German evacuation mission in Sudan by landing at an airfield near Khartoum without Sudanese army consent, according to a BBC report.
This angered the Sudanese so much that they initially blocked access, the report said. Half a day was lost as a result, it said.
"It is not accurate to suggest that Britain's efforts to evacuate embassy staff from Sudan last weekend slowed-down Germany's plans," a statement from the British Defence Ministry on Thursday said,according to the BBC.
The British ministry insists it worked very closely with its French, US and especially German partners and was grateful to the Sudanese forces.
British flights from Khartoum were still scheduled for Thursday, but Britain's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned that it was not certain whether flights could continue beyond the end of the 72-hour ceasefire on Thursday evening.
The German army or Bundeswehr flew its last rescue plane out of the war-torn country on Wednesday evening, carrying the last remaining German soldiers in Sudan, a spokesman for the rescue effort said on Thursday. In total, the Bundeswehr flew 780 people from 40 countries out of the embattled country, including 230 Germans.
France has taken 398 people from a total of 50 different nations by ship from Sudan, including five French citizens, the Foreign Ministry in Paris announced on Thursday.
A frigate brought the people from Port Sudan to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Since the start of the evacuation operations, the French army has taken 936 people out of Sudan, including 214 French nationals.
Sweden has also ended its its evacuation mission, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in Stockholm on Thursday. Since Monday around 160people including 60 Swedes left Sudan on Swedish flights.
Saudia Arabia evacuated 187 people by ship again to the coastal city of Jeddah on Thursday, including other foreign nationals, the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh announced.
The Saudi government said it has so far evacuated a total of 2,544 people from Sudan, including more than 2,400 foreigners. -- dpa
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