On Friday night MakawiRaga was staying with a friend in the Sudanese capital when she was awoken by gunshots, which soon turned into missiles. She knew she had to escape
he night before street warfare broke out in Khartoum, I was at a cultural centre in the north of the city listening to a panel of feminist speakers. It was the kind of event that would have been unthinkable under Omar al-Bashir, the dictator ousted by a popular uprising four years ago. Under Bashir, Sudan was one of the most oppressive places in the world to be a woman, and it was women who led the protests against him.
We didn’t know that we would be stuck there indefinitely. We felt reassured by having six hours’ worth of battery for our phones in my power bank, though the water pumps were out, which meant we couldn’t wash, and had to drink hot, bottled fluids. After about 12 hours we decided to leave the pantry to try to sleep. We thought it was safer to rest in the same bed so that one of us would know if the other got hit by a stray bullet.
We started to chase down leads on streets that might be quiet enough to drive through, so-called “safe passages”. People were texting each other updates on the roads all the time; someone even built an app for it. At 2pm on the fourth day I received a hurried call from a friend living in the east of the city who had heard about a safe passage to a calmer part of the city. “Leave now if you ever will,” he said.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Sudan says foreign diplomats are being evacuated from Khartoum\n\t\t\tKeep abreast of significant corporate, financial and political developments around the world.\n\t\t\tStay informed and spot emerging risks and opportunities with independent global reporting, expert\n\t\t\tcommentary and analysis you can trust.\n\t\t
Read more »
Sudan fighting: Khartoum violence mapped as civilians flee cityThe BBC has verified videos of fighting and spoken to fleeing residents to map the violence in Sudan's capital.
Read more »
Sudan: UK to begin evacuating diplomats from Khartoum as part of rescue missionThe number of diplomats in Sudan is thought to be small, in the low double-digits, and any evacuation from the capital would be very limited in size
Read more »
York: Congregation to leave church for two yearsSt Michael le Belfrey's staff and congregation will set up a temporary home at the De Grey Rooms.
Read more »
Fire crews and police attend two Shrewsbury crashes two hours apartFire crews were called out to two crashes in the Shrewsbury area yesterday evening.
Read more »
Warwickshire car crash: Two teenagers die and five people seriously hurt after two-car crashA 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl have now died after a collision involving two vehicles near Shipston-on-Sour on Friday, police have said. Two other teenagers and a mum and two children were also seriously hurt and are being treated in hospital.
Read more »