Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs a high-level meeting to review the situation related to Indians in Sudan. The meeting comes after an Indian national died after he was injured by a stray bullet, the Indian embassy in Sudan informed on Sunday.
The Embassy had previously advised the Indian nationals to stay indoors in view of the clashes between the military and paramilitary troops. Explosions rocked the Sudanese capital Khartoum on April 15 as paramilitaries and the regular army traded attacks on each other's bases, days after the Sudanese army warned the country was at a "dangerous" turning point.
News agency AFP cited Central Committee of Sudan Doctors as informing that the total number of deaths among civilians reached 56. There were 'tens of deaths' among security forces but they were not included in that death toll, it added.
"It has been reported that Mr Albert Augestine, an Indian National working in a Dal Group Company in Sudan who got hit by a stray bullet yesterday succumbed to his injuries. Embassy is in touch with family and medical authorities to make further arrangements," a tweet by the Indian Mission read.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar extended condolences saying, "The Embassy is making all efforts to extend the fullest assistance to the family. The situation in Khartoum remains one of great concern. We will continue to monitor developments."
According to reports, violence erupted in Sudan on Saturday after weeks of escalating tensions between military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, over the planned integration of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the regular army.
Gunfire was heard near the airport and also Burhan's residence and in Khartoum North. Locals could be seen running for cover as artillery exchanges rocked the streets, AFP reported.
It is to be noted that military leader Burhan has been at loggerheads with the RSF commander, over talks to finalise a deal to return the country to civilian rule and end the crisis sparked by their 2021 coup. A plan to integrate the RSF into the regular army is one of the key points of contention, according to reports.
The Sudan army, in a statement issued on Thursday, said it was "sounding the alarm as the country is at a dangerous historical turning point". "The risks are increasing as the RSF command mobilised and spread forces in the capital and other cities,” the statement added.
Sudan's warring forces clashed again in the nation's capital early Friday, with bombing and shelling reported in several areas of Khartoum, as they ignored appeals by world powers for an end-of-Ramadan ceasefire, as reported by AFP. Both UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called separately for a ceasefire of "at least" three days to mark Eid al-Fitr in the mostly Muslim country, as explosions and gunfire resounded in the capital Khartoum for the sixth straight night.
"On the night of Eid al-Fitr, several areas of Khartoum were bombed and are still exposed to shelling and clashes between the armed forces and the RSF," the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said in a statement, as quoted by AFP. "We call on all citizens to exercise caution, stay home, close doors and windows and lie down. We also call on these forces to be responsible and immediately stop fighting to protect innocent lives."
Blinken "condemned the indiscriminate fighting" in separate conversations with both Burhan and Daglo, his spokesperson said in a Friday statement. "He urged both military leaders to implement and uphold a nationwide ceasefire and sustain it through at least the end of Eid al-Fitr, Sunday, April 23," the statement said, as quoted by AFP. Burhan appeared on television on Friday for the first time since hostilities began, to deliver an Eid address as in previous years.
"For Eid this year, our country is bleeding: destruction, desolation and the sound of bullets have taken precedence over joy," he said, as quoted by AFP. "We hope that we will come out of this ordeal more united... a single army, a single people... towards a civilian power," he said.