The conflict in Sudan enters its fourth month with no sign of a peaceful resolution

Transcript

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

The conflict in Sudan is entering a fourth month, with no sign of a resolution. Fighting between the Sudanese army and the rival Rapid Support Forces in the capital of Khartoum and across Sudan is deepening poverty and hunger and driving millions from their homes. Our Africa correspondent Emmanuel Akinwotu has been covering the conflict - joins us now from Ibadan in Nigeria. Emmanuel, how bad are things in Sudan?

EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE: Well, more than 3 million people have been displaced and counting. You know, 3,000 people have been killed and 6,000 injured. That's according to Sudan's Ministry of Health. Although the true figure is likely way higher. You know, there's a communications blackout across parts of Sudan. So really there's a limit to what we know.

The epicenter of the fighting is still in Khartoum, the capital, and especially Omdurman, which is a neighboring city. And some of the most shocking atrocities have been in West Darfur, where there are echoes of the genocidal violence that we saw 20 years ago against Darfur's non-Arab ethnic groups, and - albeit that was in a different context. You know, at the moment, the International Criminal Court have actually opened investigations into these abuses. And every day, we're hearing new details of atrocities and potential war crimes. You know, the humanitarian aid is sorely limited across the country. And peace talks have so far been a failure.

When I've been talking to people, there's this feeling of despair that the international urgency has waned even though the conflict has gotten worse. And we should warn the audience, you're going to hear some gunfire in this piece.

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AKINWOTU: For over three months, everyday life has been cruelly upended into a front-line fight for control of Sudan. Army air force jets bomb targets from the sky in the capital Khartoum, toppling apartment blocks or hospitals that the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, have occupied.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)

AKINWOTU: The RSF launched their offensives from the ground, breaking into homes and residential buildings. Throughout this conflict, we've been in touch with residents in Khartoum and beyond who regularly post footage and updates of the horror and warfare unfolding on their streets. The conflict has destroyed the health system and left millions displaced.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)

AKINWOTU: More than a million people have left Sudan, and over 200,000 refugees alone have crossed from Darfur to neighboring Chad, fleeing some of the worst violence seen there since the genocidal war 20 years ago.

MIRIAM HADIYA MOHAMED: (Non-English language spoken).

AKINWOTU: Miriam Hadiya Mohamed is one of them. I met her in a refugee camp inside Chad some weeks ago. She said attacks by the RSF and allied militias targeted and killed several people like her - civilians of African ethnicities.

MOHAMED: (Non-English language spoken).

AKINWOTU: "The reason I came is because of the Arabs, or the RSF, who came to us and said, if we don't leave now, they'd kill us all." She fled with her four children, but she doesn't know where her husband and her siblings are. She's praying they're still alive.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Non-English language spoken).

AKINWOTU: While Darfur and the country have deteriorated, very little help has arrived.

WILLIAM CARTER: I think it's quickly falling back to being a neglected crisis, unfortunately.

AKINWOTU: William Carter is a country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council and has stayed in the country throughout the conflict. He said the fighting made it virtually impossible to access several areas and that international support for Sudan has waned.

CARTER: I haven't seen it diplomatically being treated with urgency. It's not an ignorance case. It's a case of apathy at the moment. And, you know, the right power is not necessarily willing to stick their necks out.

AKINWOTU: Several cease-fire deals to allow the movement of aid were negotiated by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia but then failed to hold. Peace talks led by the two countries were held in Jeddah but unraveled last month. Then in recent days, there was a new flurry of diplomatic efforts.

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PRESIDENT ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI: (Non-English language spoken).

AKINWOTU: This was Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi calling for a resolution at talks in Cairo last week, while the East African bloc IGAD have led another set of talks. But with parallel talks and conflicting objectives between them, there is little expectation they will facilitate peace.

MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu in Nigeria. This is NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.