NEW DELHI: Over 400 people have been killed and over 3500 others have been injured in a “devastating fighting” that is underway in Sudan.
This was informed by the World Health Organization (WHO) spokeswoman Margaret Harris.
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Harris said: “Four hundred and thirteen people have died and 3,551 people have been injured … that we know of.”
According to the UNICEF – the United Nations’ children agency – at least nine children were among the dead.
“As long as fighting continues, children will continue to pay the price,” UNICEF spokesman James Elder said.
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PREPARE EVACUATION PLANS: PM MODI TO OFFICIALS
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday (April 21), asked officials to prepare contingency evacuation plans for Indians stranded in Sudan.
PM Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting on Friday (April 21) to review the security situation in Sudan via video-conferencing.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar, national security advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, ambassador of India to Sudan Ravindra Prasad Jaiswal and several other senior officials were present at the meeting.
Over 3000 Indian citizens have been left stranded across Sudan following the break out of the “devastating fighting”.
“PM Modi received first-hand report of conditions on ground, with focus on safety of over 3,000 Indians in Sudan. PM Modi instructed relevant officials to remain vigilant, closely monitor developments and evaluate safety of all Indian nationals. He also asked the officials to prepare a contingency evacuation plan, accounting for rapidly shifting security landscape, viability of options,” the Prime Minister’s office stated.
It added: “PM Modi expressed his condolences on the passing away of an Indian national who fell victim to a stray bullet last week.”
The fight between the military and a powerful paramilitary force in Sudan has left around 30 people from Karnataka’s Hakki Pikki tribe stranded in the Sudanese city of El-Fasher.
Earlier, external affairs minister S Jaishankar discussed the worsening situation in Sudan with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres.
THE SUDAN FIGHTING
The conflict in the country is a direct result of a vicious power struggle within Sudan’s military leadership.
After a week of fighting between Sudan’s army and paramilitary forces, over 400 people have lost their lives.
The Sudanese army has stated that it has deployed soldiers to ‘comb’ the streets looking for soldiers of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – a paramilitary force.
At its heart, this is a power struggle between two powerful military men over the roadmap for returning the country to civilian rule.
As part of that plan the country’s current military government – made up of the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF led by Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo – were supposed to merge their forces.
But the RSF has resisted this change, and began to mobilise its troops which escalated into full-blown fighting between the two sides.
Bot the forces have large numbers of troops at their disposal.
Gen Burhan has the regular military – around 120,000 strong – while the RSF has as many as 150,000, with a fearsome reputation for violence.
They were part of a transitional administration that was supposed to pave the way for a democratic government.
But in 2021 Gen Burhan staged a military coup, putting all that on hold.