Renewed artillery shelling around the positions of the Rapid Support Forces militia in the camps and the sports city and loud explosions heard in the South Sudan area

On Monday, violent clashes were witnessed between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces amid heavy artillery shelling and explosions in Khartoum. Meanwhile, the Gezira state witnessed looting and pillaging with the advance of the Rapid Support Forces towards South Sudan.

Rapid Support Forces members looted "everything" in Al-Aykoura in Gezira state in central Sudan, according to a resident of the village, as these forces advanced southward and opened new fronts in the ongoing months-long war with the army.

The witness mentioned that "the Rapid Support Forces looted everything: cars, commercial transport trucks, and tractors," refusing to reveal his identity for fear of retaliation from these forces advancing towards the south of the country.

In the same state, the situation in Al-Hasaheisa city, 50 km north of Wad Madani city, the state capital, is no different.

Abdeen, who only gave his first name for the same reasons, said: "On Saturday, seven individuals wearing Rapid Support Forces uniforms and carrying automatic weapons knocked on the door of the house and asked about a car that one of our acquaintances placed in our house after he managed to get it out of Khartoum." He added, "They took it at gunpoint."

The bloody battles that broke out in mid-April between the Sudanese army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo displaced about 500,000 people from Khartoum to Gezira state, which had remained safe from the conflict.

But more than ten days ago, the Rapid Support Forces, which control most parts of the Sudanese capital, advanced on the highway linking Khartoum and Wad Madani city, controlling one village after another.

On December 15, the Rapid Support Forces attacked Wad Madani, prompting 300,000 people to flee again either to other areas in Gezira state or to neighboring states such as Sinnar and Gedaref, according to the United Nations.

On Saturday, the forces were 15 km north of Sinnar, according to witnesses confirmed to AFP.

Looting markets and random shooting

Witnesses added, according to Al Arabiya News Channel's website, that "warplanes bombed gatherings of the Rapid Support Forces north of Sinnar, causing panic among the residents."

The army is the only side in the conflict equipped with air forces. In contrast, the Rapid Support Forces prefer to operate through light and mobile units moving using small trucks equipped with heavy machine guns.

Wherever the Rapid Support Forces pass, women and girls fear exposure to "sexual violence," a recurrent threat in this war, according to the child welfare organization ("Save the Children").

At Al-Hasaheisa market, a journalist from AFP saw shop doors open and goods scattered.

Omar Hussein (42 years old), whose family owns shops in the market, said: "Did the Rapid Support Forces come to fight us as citizens or to fight the army?"

He confirmed that his family lost all their trade "after their shops and cars were looted."

In Tamboul Market, one of the most important commercial markets in eastern Gezira state, "the Rapid Support Forces stormed the market while firing randomly," witnesses said.

It is worth mentioning that the Consulate General of the Republic of Sudan warned its citizens, in the past hours, against entering Egypt illegally as it endangers their lives and those of their families and children.

Ambassador Abdelkader Abdullah, the Consul General, confirmed that there is a real danger regarding illegal infiltration into Egypt and the risks resulting from that on citizens or individuals or families, first among which are traffic accidents with vehicles used in smuggling, exposure to looting and extortion by human smuggling gangs, getting lost in the desert, exposure to arrest and detention, and those who survive all of that are violating the law and become subject to arrest at any time.

The Sudanese ambassador said he cannot enroll his children in Egyptian schools and universities, cannot travel to any other country, nor can he return to Sudan legally.