At least 28 South Sudanese nationals have taken shelter inside the Comboni High School in the Sudanese capital Khartoum amid heavy fighting between rival military forces.
The 17 students and 11 teachers are among 55 people including Sudanese – trapped inside the school for the second day of fighting between the army and Rapid Support Forces.
Joseph Mayek, a teacher at the Comboni College Khartoum (CCK) said the students and teachers were still inside the school when fighting erupted in the morning of April 15, 2023.
Mayek said the school is a few kilometers away from the Presidential Palace, where an intense battle is raging.
He further said they are terrified by the heavy deployment around the school with armored vehicles and troops.
“With us here, are a number of teachers, students, and school administration the situation is still the same, the fighting is still going on, and the school is located near the Republican Palace,” he said in a WhatsApp voice note to Eye Radio.
“There are several burnt cars near the Evangelical Cultural Center, and we do not know which side they belong to. We are inside the school and it is surrounded by a large number of armored vehicles.”
Mayek said they are praying for the fighting to stop so that they can reunite with their families.
Another South Sudanese teacher, Mary Achan Kiss said some parents managed to pick their children in the besieged school.
She said the students and teachers including the headmaster are sleeping under desks.
“Some of the students went home with their parents and we are left behind with the rest. The gun shoot sound was high as you can see we as teachers include the headmaster and the student we were sleeping under the desk.”
Fierce fighting between the Sudanese army and the powerful paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces enters the second day in the capital Khartoum.
Fighting is also intensifying in the northern city of Merowe and Port Sudan in the East as well as Kassala.
The conflict erupted on Saturday morning after months of tensions between the military, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.