RSF and Sudan army clash near the Sennar Sugar Factory

“Sporadic clashes” between the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) resumed in an area west of the Sennar Sugar Factory, according to an eyewitness report. Military Intelligence has reportedly detained members of resistance committees and activists in Sennar and Singa.

Clashes have been limited for the past two days, after the RSF took control of El Gezira on December 18, entered El Giteina town in neighbouring White Nile state on Thursday, and then began to advance to Sennar, south of El Gezira. 

An eyewitness from Sennar told Radio Dabanga that residents of Sennar heard an exchange of gunfire between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and RSF west of the Sennar Sugar Factory yesterday, but the fighting did not encroach on the town.

The El Junaid and Sennar sugar factories, and the Sugar Cane Research Centre in El Gezira, have allegedly been “completely ransacked” by the RSF. 

The eyewitness added that there is a decline in the number of displaced people seeking refuge in Sennar. People are reportedly travelling from there, through Singa and Dinder, towards El Gedaref, and from there towards other places in eastern and northern Sudan.

Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) reported today that about 1,770 displaced households have arrived at various locations in Sennar and Singa since fighting started in Wad Madani.

The eyewitness also reported that, over the past few days, Sudan’s Military Intelligence detained several members of resistance committees in Sennar, before releasing some of them and keeping two of them in detention.   

On Monday, Military Intelligence detained Hiam Abda, member of the SIHA Network, and Alaa Abdallah, member of the Feminist Alliance, in Singa. 

Several emergency room volunteers were allegedly detained by military intelligence agents in Singa on Saturday, while they were providing meals to displaced people passing through the popular market. The detentions led to the suspension of services and assistance to the displaced, the emergency room in Sennar state reported. 

The International committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on the warring parties “to ensure protection of all civilians and provide safe passage for people trying to reach safety” in a press statement on December 21.