April War... Its arenas are hospitals, football fields, and peoples homes.
By Zein Osman
For over a hundred days, the armed conflict has been reignited between the armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, and the war in Khartoum continues, described by its leaders as senseless.
In non-Sudanese media following its developments, names of places are mentioned, such as the General Command, the Presidential Palace, the Sports City, the Armored Corps, the Engineers Corps, the Central Reserve Forces Command, the Weapons Corps, Wadi Seidna Base, and the Armys Garrisons in other states. However, you would be mistaken if you thought that the mentioned areas above are the actual battlegrounds and that the justification for its occurrence is to achieve democratic transformation on one side and restore the dignity of the armed forces on the other side.
In response to the question of where the Sudanese war takes place, a woman answers while forced to take cover under her bed with her children after hearing the sounds of aircraft cannons targeting a convoy of vehicles belonging to the Rapid Support Forces. Those vehicles had taken shelter under a tree in the middle of a residential area. The woman says, This war ignites in our homes before it ignites in our hearts.
You dont need to go far to be told where it is happening. It is the sign of Khartoum University Hospital, close to the General Command, closed since the morning of April 15, along with Jafar ibn Auf Hospital, the largest referral hospital for children in Sudan, passing through Al-Shaab Hospital and all private hospitals on Accident Street, and moving towards East Nile Hospital, which has turned into a war zone, and before it, Omdurman Maternity Hospital and Omdurman University Hospital.
In addition to that, the number of casualties due to hospital invasions adds up; 57 hospitals were attacked with 10 medical field workers killed and others injured, turning hospitals into arenas of confrontation between the warring parties.
Negotiations between the conflicting parties are at a standstill, yet the central issue of discussion now is the demand for the Rapid Support Forces to leave the homes they occupied.
Despite the denials of the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces about the presence of their members in citizens homes, the reality seems quite different. Most of the homes in Old Bahri are being used as bases for the Rapid Support Forces, and their soldiers ask citizens to leave their homes under the pretext that their presence there poses a danger to them.
Homes that have been turned into military barracks have become grounds for looting and plundering, and before that, their female residents had to leave. Each woman, upon knowing that fighters have entered her home, grieves over the state of her kitchen and house, which have become new battlegrounds in the Sudanese war.
Perhaps one of the ironies of the Sudanese April War is that it started from the Sports City, a city that was never completed during the years of the deposed regime, and its first games witnessed the war.
On the other hand, Al-Hilal and Al-Merrikh Stadiums, the Al-Riyadh Sports Hall in Omdurman, and the Liberation Square Stadium in Bahri have turned into camps utilized by soldiers. Football fields have also become arenas of deadly games in the April War.
Additionally, Sudanese people witness other battles closely tied to the war. They have to engage in a war to access water, and the Bahri Water Station, the main station that supplies the city and some Khartoum neighborhoods, has turned into a war zone. All attempts to maintain it have failed, causing people to struggle for water that brings more disease than quenching their thirst.
In the midst of the major battles, people experience minor battles to access electricity or secure a communication network, and they also have to fight for their money in the banks. With most factories shut down and shops closed, obtaining a single meal to satisfy hunger has become another crisis. You have to get it at doubled prices to avoid starvation, or you might find it in the markets that were looted, and in this case, you die of despair.
A woman who was forced to leave her home in Khartoum and found no place to stay except in an elementary school whose walls are about to collapse in one of the cities says, What is regrettable in this senseless war is that its theaters and battlegrounds are the homes of civilians... their looted cars... their shattered hearts with their dreams... Take your democracy and give us back our homes, and know that there is no dignity for the displaced, the homeless, or the frightened... Dignity is peace.
