In Sudan’s hot news, women and girls have found themselves at the heart of the fight as they learn new skills at a military training camp set up in a former schoolyard.
As the conflict in Sudan continues for 10 months, the northeast African country has been devastated by clashes between Sudanese military forces, led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group powerful under the command of General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
This conflict broke out last April in the capital, Khartoum, before quickly spreading to other regions of the country, following latent tensions between the two forces for several months.
At the Port Sudan training camp, one of several established across the country when the Sudanese army called on civilians to take up arms, military officers taught the women drills and taught them how to use firearms such as AK-47 assault rifles.
Some women told British broadcaster Sky News that they were attending the camp to show solidarity with their loved ones who had been conscripted to fight alongside the Sudanese army.
Others explained that they were learning new skills to defend themselves and their families.
At a military hospital, a teenager was receiving treatment after being hit by a bullet that passed through his shoulder and hit his spine, according to Sky News.
The 18-year-old could only move his face and told Sky he joined the fight because he needed money due to difficult living conditions.
He was taken care of by another new recruit, a 20-year-old university student.
“We never had any connection to the military, it never even occurred to us,” he said.
The United Nations estimates that at least 12,000 people have been killed in the conflict, although local doctors’ groups say the true toll is much higher.
More than 9 million people are believed to be displaced within Sudan, and 1.5 million refugees have fled to neighboring countries as the conflict continues.
Earlier this month, the United Nations food agency warned it had received reports of deaths due to famine.
According to Michael Dunford, regional director for East Africa at the World Food Program, the war has caused the “largest humanitarian crisis we are currently facing” in Sudan and he called on the international community to provide increased support.
Dagalo’s paramilitary forces appear to have gained the upper hand over the past three months, with their fighters advancing east and north across Sudan’s central belt.
Both sides are accused of war crimes by rights groups.
Africa’s regional partners are trying to mediate an end to the conflict, alongside Saudi Arabia and the United States, which have facilitated several rounds of unsuccessful indirect talks between the conflicting parties.
Burhan and Dagalo have yet to meet in person since the conflict began.