Hamdok: Civil war in Sudan 'would be a nightmare for the world'
Ousted Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok says the Sudan conflict, if descended into a civil war proper, would make the wars in Libya and Syria appear to be "a small play".
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Smoke rises in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, April 29, 2023, as gunfire and heavy artillery fire continued despite the extension of a cease-fire between the country's two top generals. (AP)
The conflict in Sudan could turn into one of the world's worst civil wars if it is not put to a stop early on, Sudan’s ousted prime minister Abdullah Hamdok claimed.
Hamdok said, in a conversation with telecom tycoon Mo Ibrahim during an event in Nairobi, that “God forbid if Sudan is to reach a point of civil war proper ... Syria, Yemen, Libya will be a small play,” adding, “I think it would be a nightmare for the world.”
Hamdok explained that the ongoing conflict was a “senseless war” between two armies, given that “there is nobody who is going to come out of this victorious. That is why it has to stop.”
UN warns of collapse as Sudan fighting enters third week
Warplanes on bombing flights received intense anti-aircraft fire above Khartoum on Saturday, as the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) reached its third week, breaching a recently restored truce.
Since April 15, battles have erupted between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's forces and his number two, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti).
While the number of dead civilians keeps rising and chaos and lawlessness engulf Khartoum, a city of five million people where many have been confined to their homes without food, water, or electricity, they have repeatedly agreed to ceasefires that have failed to yield many results.
To escape the fighting, tens of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes in Sudan or have made difficult journeys to neighboring Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, and Ethiopia.
"There is no right to go on fighting for power when the country is falling apart," UN chief Antonio Guterres the Al Arabiya television.
Al-Burhan and Dagalo have agreed to multiple fragile truces since the start of the fighting, with each side blaming the other for violating them.
The United States, Saudi Arabia, the African Union, and the United Nations mediated the agreement to the most recent three-day truce, which will end at midnight on Sunday.
Guterres voiced his support for the African-led mediation efforts. "My appeal is for everything to be done to support an African-led initiative for peace in Sudan," he told Al Arabiya.
