Sudan The army agrees to a truce for 3 days, amid the high death toll

On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the Sudanese army agreed to a three-day truce, starting today, hours after the Rapid Support Forces announced their agreement to the same truce, while the death toll reached 413 dead and 3,551 wounded, according to the World Health Organization.

On Friday evening, the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the Sudanese army announced its agreement to a three-day truce that begins today, hours after the Rapid Support Forces announced their agreement to a truce in the fighting that killed 413 people, according to the World Health Organization.

And the army said, in a statement: “The armed forces agreed to a truce for a period of three days, starting today, Friday, corresponding to April 21 (this April), to enable citizens to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr and the flow of humanitarian services, and the armed forces hope that the rebels will abide by all the requirements of the truce and stop any military movements from obstructed it."

Since the start of the clashes on April 15 in Khartoum and other cities, the death toll has reached 413 dead and 3,551 wounded, according to the World Health Organization in a statement Friday.

Sudanese Health Minister Haitham Ibrahim said, in a televised statement, that more than 400 deaths had been recorded in all the country's hospitals.

However, independent medical committees spoke, through data, about the difficulty of obtaining a complete and accurate number of victims in light of the lack of access to some of them to hospitals and the spread of corpses in the streets, and the inability to deal with them as a result of the fighting.

Earlier Friday, Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said it had agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian truce during Eid al-Fitr starting at 6 a.m. local time (0400 GMT), clearing the way for a potential de-escalation of six-day fighting with the Sudanese army. .

The Rapid Support Forces added in a statement: "The armistice coincides with the blessed Eid Al-Fitr and the opening of humanitarian corridors to evacuate citizens and give them the opportunity to greet their families."

Bombing of Khartoum despite the truce

Although both sides of the conflict in the country welcomed the proposed truce, explosions and artillery shelling rocked the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Friday.

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said: "Several areas of Khartoum were and are still being subjected to shelling and mutual clashes between the army forces and the Rapid Support Forces, causing destruction to buildings, facilities and public property."

The coalition of civil forces known as the Forces of Freedom and Change stated on Facebook that it had submitted a proposal for a three-day truce to the two parties to the conflict, adding that they welcomed the proposal.

The coalition said in a statement: "We welcome the positive stance of the leadership of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support, and we will continue efforts in the hope of silencing the voice of guns and favoring peaceful options," adding that it will continue to work on the rest of the details.

Yesterday, Thursday, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, appealed for a ceasefire to allow civilians to reach safe areas.

Thousands of civilians fled the capital Khartoum amid gunfire and explosions on Thursday, and large numbers crossed the border into Chad to escape the fighting in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

A group of doctors said in a separate context that at least 26 people were killed and 33 wounded in the city of El-Obeid, west of Khartoum, on Thursday, and eyewitnesses spoke of clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces and widespread looting.

Since April 15, Sudan has witnessed clashes between the two sides in Khartoum and other cities, and the two sides have exchanged accusations that each of them launched an attack on the headquarters of the other, in addition to allegations of controlling sites belonging to each of them.

The "Quick Support" was formed in 2013 to support government forces in their fight against the rebel movements in the Darfur region, and then assumed tasks, including combating irregular migration and maintaining security, before the army described it as "rebel" after the outbreak of clashes.

Eid al-Fitr: Africa's prayers for Sudan

In Sudan, despite the fighting, the end of Ramadan is an opportunity to get together with family or community

Muslims around the world began Friday the celebrations of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Like every year, hundreds of thousands of believers came to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Ramadan fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam, is observed by millions of Muslims around the world.

Beyond the religious dimension, Ramadan and Eid el-Fitr are also an opportunity for large family gatherings or with the rest of the Muslim community.

In Africa, the celebrations have started in the four corners of the continent but they take on a particular character in Sudan, as here in Ondurman, while for a week the country has been in the grip of a deadly conflict.

Despite two ceasefire attempts and a call for observance of Eid, soldiers and paramilitaries engaged in intense street fighting Friday in Khartoum, witnesses said.

“For Eid, our country is bleeding: destruction, desolation and the sound of bullets have taken precedence over joy ,” General Burhane said. 

In neighboring Kenya, the prayers of the Muslim community called for a truce on Friday, while the day before, President William Ruto, publicly worried about a regional conflagration.

“The Muslim community is facing problems all over the world, whether in Sudan, Palestine or elsewhere, the imam of this mosque is sorry. We ask God to relieve them of the pain, to help them overcome challenges. May Allah help them to overcome the conspiracies hatched by those who do not wish the good of the Muslim Ummah in general."

Today, Islam has between 400 and 500 million followers on the continent, making it the first religion in Africa on a par with Christianity.

45% of Africans are of the Muslim faith, they represent a third of Muslims in the world

Rwanda: Youth heal generational wounds of genocide

As Rwanda commemorates the 29th anniversary of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, young Rwandans come together to try to understand their past.

Manzi, 22, uses the arts to explore the untold story of the family he never knew.

"Young people disconnect from the commemorations of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi because they cannot understand how intense it is. Our parents have lived through things that are difficult to say and articulate. If I had had great -parents or uncles, they might have told me about it, but that's not the case, I don't know my roots.

Through her "Our Past" initiative, Sharon Bayingana wants to help young people understand this period which claimed the lives of more than a million people in less than a hundred days.

"My mother is a genocide survivor. This is the main reason why I felt the need to get involved in initiatives such as "Our Past". Our past does a great service to young people my age and older. younger than me by teaching them what the Genocide against the Tutsi is and basically what path we should take."

Claver Irakoze, who was only 11 when the genocide took place, vividly remembers how his parents were brutally taken from him.

Through books, he explains how intergenerational trauma is transmitted to young people.

"It is difficult for the younger generation to understand. When I wrote this book, I was thinking of my children, but also of the younger generation. When we remember, we go back in history. We testify and speak of the root causes of the genocide and, above all, the most important thing to recover.

Twenty-nine years later, Rwanda is now focused on healing future generations.

 

Uganda: eye care for the poorest

Gladys Atto consults a patient in a village

In Uganda, Gladys Atto has been on a mission to fight preventable blindness since she graduated as an ophthalmologist from Mbarara University of Science and Technology.

She heads the eye care department at Moroto Regional Hospital, a facility that remains too remote for thousands of patients in northeastern Uganda.

Anxious to leave no one behind, she treats the inhabitants of the most remote regions of Karamoja free of charge:

" Since in the Karamoja sub-region, patients do not have access to health care, we go to meet the patients in the villages. After checking the condition of their eyes, we treat them, and those who need surgery are taken to the hospital .”

Teresa is a mother of three whose daily life is marked by eye pain. She can no longer go gardening early because of her eye problems. She was diagnosed with cataracts in 2020, yet she was unable to access health services, let alone specialist treatment. But Dr. Atto has guaranteed her that she will regain her sight. This visit marks the beginning of a medical intervention, which until then was too expensive for this patient:

"I couldn't go to the health center because the other people who diagnosed me were from Tokora. And since they were from Tokora, I couldn't walk the distance since it's very far. I couldn't go and I was left alone at home" .

Teresa will have to undergo a complex operation. She is accompanied by the medical team to the nearest health unit, 35 kilometers away.

According to the Ugandan Ministry of Health, 57% of blindness cases in the country are due to cataracts, a condition that can be treated. The most common cause of visual impairment is uncorrected refractive error.

Since 2021, the rise in avoidable blindness has worried experts, leading to extra work for Dr Gladys Atto, who remains motivated by the prospect of giving someone back their sight.