Sudan crisis continues: UN calls to halt violence as Turkey's evacuation plane shot at

As the Sudan crisis continues to intensify, the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) called on both sides to halt targeting innocent civilians. Earlier this month, the clashes between the two sparring forces, the Sudanese military and the paramilitary group called Rapid Support Forces, engulfed the nation leading to the loss of countless lives. The ongoing crisis is the culmination of the growing rivalry between the Sudanese Army Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF head General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (widely known as Hemedti). The instances of violence in the country continue to intensify despite a temporary truce both leaders promised to maintain.   

While the UNHRC released a statement over the issue, Turkey stated that one of their evacuation planes was shot at as they try to take their nationals away from the conflict-stricken country. “Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes to find places of greater safety, at any cost, and face abuses en route. While a welcome ceasefire meant some reprieve in the fighting, clashes continued to be reported,” UNHCR commissioner Ravina Shamdasani asserted in a statement. “We are concerned at the serious risk of violence escalating in West Darfur as the hostilities between the RSF and SAF have triggered inter-communal violence. In El Geneina, West Darfur, deadly ethnic clashes have been reported, with an estimated 96 people killed since 24 April,” she added.

In the statement, Shamdasani also expressed her concerns over the fact that some of the inmates in the country are being released from or getting escaped from the prisons. The UNHRC spokesperson reasoned that the release of inmates increased the prospects of further violence in the country. “We call on the parties to immediately end hostilities, and in particular to halt hostilities in residential areas and the targeting of civilian population and infrastructure. The protection of civilians must be paramount. International humanitarian law demands it,” she concluded. 

Turkey says evacuation plane got shot 

In the midst of all the chaos, the Turkish defence ministry confirmed that an evacuation plane was shot at. In a tweet shared on Friday, the Turkish defence ministry mentioned that the plane was shot while it was landing at the Wadi Seidna airstrip. “Light weapons were fired on our C-130 evacuation plane, which was going to Wadi Sayidna for the mission of evacuating our citizens who were stuck in Sudan, where the clashes continued,” the Ministry wrote in a tweet. However, they made it clear that a major tragedy was averted as the plane eventually landed safely. “Our plane landed safely. Although there are no injuries in our personnel, necessary controls are also carried out on our aircraft,” the ministry further stated in the statement.

The blame game

After the incident, the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) blamed each other.  While the Sudanese military accused the RSF of shooting at the Turkish plane, the RSF on the other hand stated it is committed to the extended humanitarian truce and did not shoot at the Turkish plane.

“The Rapid Support Forces would like to deny the allegations made by the coup leaders of the armed forces, backed by the extremist remnants of the defunct regime, that our forces attacked a Turkish evacuation plane. We refute these claims and categorically state that they are not based on any factual evidence,” the RSF said in a tweet.

“Our forces have remained strictly committed to the humanitarian truce that we agreed upon since midnight, and it is not true that we targeted any aircraft in the sky of Wadi Seidna in Omdurman, which is an area not under the control of our forces, and we do not have any forces in its proximity,” it further added.