New Delhi: An Indian national, Albert Augustine, working in the Dal Group of companies in Sudan, was killed by a stray bullet on Saturday and succumbed to his injuries, the Indian officials said.
Hundreds of Indians are living in Sudan and working for different companies/NGOs and doing business.
Three UN World Food Programme (WFP) workers were among those killed in clashes in Darfur. Two more employees were injured while carrying out duties and a humanitarian aircraft was damaged, “seriously impacting” WFP’s work, a spokesperson said.
The Sudanese Doctors’ Union told Reuters at least 25 people were killed and 183 others injured. The group was unable to determine if all the casualties were civilians. The media reported that two people were killed at Khartoum airport, four in neighbouring Omdurman, eight in Nyala, six in El Obeid, and five in El Fasher.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr S Jaishankar, in a Twitter message, said “deeply grieved to learn about the death of an Indian national in Khartoum. The embassy is making all efforts to extend the fullest assistance to the family.”
The situation in Khartoum remains a great concern, and we all continue to monitor developments, added Jaishankar further.
In a travel advisory, the Indian government has asked all Indians living in Sudan “that given reported firing and clashes, all Indians in Sudan are advised to take utmost precautions, stay indoors and stop venturing outside with immediate effect.”
The travel advisory also asks all Indians planning to travel to Sudan should postpone their travel and stay in touch with the embassy for further updates.
Violence broke out on Saturday in the capital Khartoum and across the country over a power struggle between Sudan’s army and paramilitary force have rocked the country for the last two days, and unconfirmed reports are that around 50 people so far have been killed.
Media reported that the two groups continued their battle for control on Sunday, the second day running, signalling they were unwilling to end hostilities despite mounting diplomatic pressure.
Heavy fighting involving armoured vehicles, truck-mounted machine guns and warplanes raged on Sunday in the capital of Khartoum and the city of Omdurman. Fighting was reported around military headquarters, Khartoum International Airport and state television headquarters.
BBC reported that the residents dodged gunfire in the capital, Khartoum, as rival forces battled the presidential palace, state TV, and army headquarters.
The clashes erupted after tensions over a proposed transition to civilian rule. The army and its opponents, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), claimed they had control of the airport and other key sites in Khartoum, where fighting continued overnight.
The clashes came over a dispute on the timing to integrate the RSF into the SAF as part of a power-sharing deal with the civilians who led protests the former president Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
They had a two-year power-sharing deal with the army before being interrupted by a military coup in October 2021. The Sudanese people resisted, and protests took place across the country. More than 100 people have been killed since then.
Sudan’s armed forces have dismissed any possibility of negotiations or dialogue with the country’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). There will be “no negotiations or dialogue until the dissolution of the paramilitary RSF”, the armed forces said on its Facebook page.
In an interview, the Sudanese army chief, Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, told Al Jazeera that the army controls the presidential palace, the military headquarters and the airport.
Several countries, including US and UK, called for an immediate stop to the ongoing violence across Sudan. Chad’s government has closed its border with Sudan and called for calm. “Chad appeals to the regional and international community as well as to all friendly countries to prioritise a return to peace,” it said in a statement.
Several countries have issued travel advisories asking their nationals not to venture out or travel to Sudan and remain indoors. They said it closely monitors the situation after paramilitaries said they had taken control of the presidential palace and other sites.