Sudan death toll nears 100 as civilians flee, power struggle continues
Several countries have called for restraint after rival forces engaged in bloody clashes in Sudan.
Violent clashes between rival Sudanese military forces continued for the third day Monday, leaving nearly 100 people dead and more than 365 injured, according to the Sudanese doctors union.
The fighting has left hundreds of thousands of residents trapped in their homes in the capital Khartoum. Many have been trying to flee as the fighting raged overnight, according to eyewitness accounts on Twitter. Sudan is already suffering from a humanitarian crisis with nearly 15 million people in need of food, the United Nations World Food Program estimates.
The fighting broke out in Khartoum over the weekend between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF). The fighting has since spread to other areas of Sudan.
The RSF, which is estimated to include nearly 70,000 fighters by the International Crisis Group, emerged in 2013 from the notorious Janjaweed militia that longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir deployed to crush a rebellion in Darfur in the early 2000s. The militia is accused of atrocities including war crimes.
