Indian Catholic among 60 killed in Sudan

By Jose Kavi

New Delhi, April 17, 2023: Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar joined those mourning the death of Albert Augustine, an Indian Catholic who was among 60 killed in the ongoing clashes in Sudan.

“The situation in Khartoum remains one of great concern. We will continue to monitor developments,” the minister said April 16, a day after Albert Augustine was killed after being hit by a stray bullet in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital.

Augustine, 48, was working as the security manager of a US firm in Khartoum for the past six months. He was a native of Alakode, a village in the Kannur district of Kerala.

Augustine’s wife Saibella and daughter Marietta were with him at that time of his death, Sister Remya Thomas, the deceased’s first cousin working in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, told Matters India. Their only son is studying in Canada.

Augustine’s wife and daughter joined him two weeks ago to spend the summer vacation, said Sister Remya, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Annecy and director of St. Joseph’s Community College in Bhubaneswar, Odisha capital.

She said the family was informed about the death around 9:30 pm on April 15 bringing great grief to the relatives.

“As the clashes started they were staying inside their apartment. Augustine had just moved to the window to make a call when he was shot. He was killed right in front of his wife and daughter,” Sister Remya quoted what Augustine’s ninth grade daughter shared with family in India over the phone. His wife has not recovered from the shock, Sister Thomas added.

The authorities have shifted the mother and the daughter to another place, Sister Remya said.

India’s Minister of State of External Affairs V Muraleedharan has promised all assistance to Augustine’s family to bring his body to his native place.

The ongoing clashes are between Sudan’s military, Sudanese Armed Forces, and the country’s powerful government paramilitary force, Rapid Support Forces. Some 600 people have been wounded in the clashes.

The two groups on April 15 started a fierce battle in Khartoum and other parts of the country, dashing the hopes of Sudan’s transition into a democracy.

Sudan’s military and paramilitary forces blame each other for the escalation of violence.

The RSF has claimed that its forces have control over key areas in Khartoum, including the army chief’s residence, the presidential palace and three airports. Attacks near many other important areas have been reported including army headquarters, the defense ministry and the state TV stations. While the SAF has refuted the RSF’s claim, the armed forces have also claimed that they have attacked RSF bases.

The clashes are a result of a month-long tension between the RSF and SAF regarding bringing Sudan back to democracy. Sudan’s political parties had been in conversation to bring back the short-lived democracy in the country, which was destabilized by a military coup in 2021.

Sudan had attained democracy for a brief time period when Abdalla Hamdok, the democratic prime minister of Sudan had toppled the rule of Sudan leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019. However, in 2021, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of RSF and Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of SAF came together for a military coup.

Dagalo and Burhan had decided April 14 that they would work towards de-escalating the tensions between the two military groups along with defusing the issue regarding who out of the two will be heading the military in a democratic government. Another issue Dagalo and al-Burhan decided to work towards was the disagreements over RSF’s integration into the army.

However, soon after, the tensions escalated with RSF deploying their forces in the capital and other locations. It was also reported that Dagalo had told the media that the RSF would not back down until they had covered all military bases.

According to the New York Times, since it gained independence in 1956, Sudan is the only African country that has had the most successful military coups. However, none before have just been between two wings of the armed forces.