Abroad Today, 07:46 200 people were killed and 1,800 injured in the power struggle in Sudan; an EU ambassador was attacked

In Sudan, fighting between the army and a powerful paramilitary group has killed around 200 people and injured 1,800.

15264021t1h3ea8 — Photo: Reuters/ScanPix

In Sudan, fighting between the army and a powerful paramilitary group has killed around 200 people and injured 1,800.

Hospitals were also damaged in the three-day fighting, and the provision of medical aid was disrupted on Monday.

Volker Pertes, the head of the UN mission in Sudan, told a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council that at least 185 people had been killed and about 1,800 wounded in the fighting.

“It’s a very unstable situation, so it’s very difficult to say how things will change [spēku] balance,” Pertes told reporters after the meeting.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday called on Sudan’s warring parties to “immediately end hostilities” and warned that further escalation “could be devastating for the country and the region”.

Tensions have risen in recent months between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Force over a failure to agree on whether to integrate the paramilitary unit into the country’s army and who should oversee the process. The pooling of forces is a key provision in the unsigned Sudan Transitional Administration Agreement.

A power struggle between Sudanese army chief Abdelfattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Rapid Support Force commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, turned deadly on Saturday.

Sudan’s two warring sides have said they control strategic areas in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere in the country, but these claims have not been confirmed.

Analysts say the fighting in Khartoum is unprecedented and could drag on despite regional and global calls for a ceasefire.

The European Union (EU) ambassador to Sudan, Aidan O’Hara, was attacked in Khartoum on Monday, announced the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Joseph Borrell.

“The security of diplomatic premises and personnel is the responsibility and obligation of the Sudanese authorities under international law,” Borrell said.

The attack on the 58-year-old ambassador took place at his residence. EU spokeswoman Nabila Masrali said O’Hara was doing well after the attack.

“Personnel safety is our priority. The EU delegation was not evacuated. Security measures are being assessed,” Nasrali said.