Derry man in Sudan: 'I don't know if you heard that bang...a shell exploding fairly close'

As Brian, a teacher, who has been living in the Sudanese capital for years, spoke to the ‘Journal’ on Tuesday the explosion of a shell could be heard down the phone line.

“We have been living below ground - I don't know if you heard that bang...it seemed like a shell exploding fairly close. It's been kind of nerve-shattering,” he said.

He told the ‘Journal’ the home he shares with his wife, daughter (18) and son (13) is far enough from the epicentre of the fighting to provide some comfort.

“So far we are OK. There is nothing that is directly on our doorstep. It is still frightening to hear the artillery. I know it is not on my doorstep. I haven't seen any smoke outside my window.

"I haven't ventured out anywhere because it is far too dangerous but nothing uncomfortably close that I am expecting damage to my house or anything like that. So far,” he said.

Hundreds have been killed in fighting between rival factions – the army and the RSF – since the weekend.

Brian says political instability has been a fact of day-to-day life since the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir in the Sudanese revolution of 2019.

“We have been used to volatility and instability in Sudan over the last four of five years.

“The revolution took place in 2019. In the run up to that you had the demonstrations, the protests, and then the response from different elements of the security apparatus.

“We've been living with the inconvenience, with the prospect of having to make changes to plans at very short notice.

“I'm a teacher in a school. There are some days we will get a message to say stay at home or we will have to cut the day short.

“We've been mentally prepared for those kinds of inconveniences and trouble but this is obviously very different. It is much more dangerous, much more volatile, with the fact that we can't leave our homes.

"It's reminiscent of the days of lockdown but that was a very different lockdown. There wasn't an immediate danger to your life if you left the house.”

Brian’s family and their fellow Khartoumese are doing their best to stay sane. There is little prospect of teaching with internet and electricity regularly off line due to the fighting.

“These are incredibly exceptional circumstances. It’s about prioritising, personal and family safety.

“The situation is changing from minute to minute, hour to hour. You have two warring sides both claiming to have taken over key strategic installations.

"We were expecting some communication on Monday from the head of the Sudan Armed Forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, but that never materialised.

"That might have given us some kind of indication as to what the state of play is. We don't know who has the upper hand.”

For the moment Brian and his family are hunkering down.

“The airport is out of operation at the minute. So any talk of evacuation and any possibility of flying out is not going to happen anytime soon,” he said.

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