美国国家公共电台 NPR--A mother's diary: She and her son fled the fighting in Sudan's capital Khartoum（在线收听）

A mother's diary: She and her son fled the fighting in Sudan's capital Khartoum

Transcript

The capital has been at the center of a vicious urban battle between rival armies for nearly two weeks. A doctor who lived through the fighting before escaping tells her story.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

In Sudan, the promise of democracy seems to have come apart. Four years ago, the military threw out a long-time ruler. That seemed to point the way toward democratic rule until another coup followed. And now, just as civilians were supposed to take over for real, two military forces are battling for power in the capital. Since the beginning of that conflict, NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu has been talking with one resident in Khartoum, and she has kept a diary for us. This is the story of Muhjah Khateeb.

(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS)

MUHJAH KHATEEB: We can hear the sound of the bullets, of the shooting. If we do not die on the street, we will die inside our house.

EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE: Muhjah Khateeb is a 42-year-old doctor and project manager from Khartoum. She lived in an apartment in Minna Yeri, south of the city. On the morning the conflict started, she woke to several phone calls.

KHATEEB: One of my friends - he's an army officer. He called me eight times. And I said, what's wrong with him? And when I called him back, he told me, like, where are you? Don't leave your house because the war has started. He even sent me some videos.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)

AKINWOTU: The footage he sent her was an opening snapshot of the war. From her balcony, she could see plumes of smoke rising over Khartoum's skyline. I first spoke to Khateeb the day after the conflict erupted between the army and the rapid support forces. She was devastated and hoped it could end as suddenly as it started. But then each day the violence continued and grew more intense.

KHATEEB: Hello. This is Day 4.

AKINWOTU: She started to document what she saw and felt, recording on her phone and sending voice notes on WhatsApp.

KHATEEB: This morning, I couldn't eat anything. I'm not in a mood to eat, you know? I'm just in my flat alone. This is the first time that we don't have electricity, and this was since the afternoon. And I'm not sure if you hear just - the bombing now.

AKINWOTU: As the fighting spread and while without power, enough food and water, she started to plan how to escape Khartoum, but not without her 15-year-old son, Fadi.

KHATEEB: Hi, Emmanuel. Good morning. We are not fine. I'm not sure if I can see my son again.

AKINWOTU: Her son had stayed for a few nights with family friends in east Khartoum and was meant to come home on the morning the conflict started, but now it was too late to cross the city.

KHATEEB: I called where my son is staying, and I asked about him. And they told me he's OK. He's sleeping, but he's sleeping under the bed. So it seemed that he's afraid.

AKINWOTU: She missed him. But for now, she had to wait.

KHATEEB: Hi. This is Day 5.

AKINWOTU: Within days of the conflict, there were hundreds of deaths and a spiraling humanitarian crisis.

KHATEEB: Hi, Emmanuel. The news about the safe exit - there is no safe exit. There is no truce.

AKINWOTU: The army and the RSF announced temporary humanitarian cease-fires to allow safe exits for civilians and the injured, but they never held. The fighting never stopped.

KHATEEB: I can see the smoke. And they are also - there is shooting, bombing and other things. So it's not true.

AKINWOTU: General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the army and the de facto head of state, is at war with his deputy and former ally, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, or Hemedti. Both sides claim they fight to protect the fragile transition to democracy sparked by the revolution, but few believe this is anything other than a bloody struggle for power with a country caught in the crossfire.

KHATEEB: I'm sick and tired. Everyone is leaving the city now. The issue is that I don't have my child.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Chanting in Arabic).

KHATEEB: Day 7, or first day of Eid.

AKINWOTU: Khateeb never imagined spending Eid alone, but she had no choice. The streets were slightly quieter, so she went looking for where she could buy food, all the while thinking of Fadi.

KHATEEB: Maybe at any point, my son will come home. And when he comes, I want him to find that I prepared some cookies for Eid.

AKINWOTU: Eid is the end of Ramadan, a Muslim celebration, a time to be with family. But now she was at her lowest point.

KHATEEB: Day 8 of war. I couldn't sleep last night, and I decided that I have to bring my child by any means today.

AKINWOTU: Some of her friends had been telling her to stay where she was, that her son was safe. But the fighting was more intense where they were in east Khartoum, so she felt she had to get to him. Later, she described walking in a daze through the streets, past checkpoints, under air force jets and the sound of warfare, until she reached him.

KHATEEB: I have good news for you. I arrived home safely with my son. It's a big story. I can't tell because I just arrived home, and I'm so tired, and I feel hot, and I'm hungry. Now I think I can start to make my plans.

AKINWOTU: That night, they celebrated together. On the way home, she managed to find a grocery store that was open. She bought everything they loved.

KHATEEB: I bought eggs, more processed meat, cheese, tomatoes.

AKINWOTU: And some things were just for her.

KHATEEB: I found my tobacco for my hookah, for smoking.

AKINWOTU: Then soon after, they got ready to leave their world behind.

KHATEEB: I can't believe that after all that I built, I have to leave everything behind me - my furniture, my everythings, my cup of coffees, everything.

AKINWOTU: She and Fadi are now on their way to South Sudan. She leaves her city and her country as it crumbles under the weight of this conflict, but leaving her home has left her in turmoil.

KHATEEB: At certain point at night, I felt like I regret my decisions that I left my home. And I felt guilty. And I said, look; why did I leave my home? I shouldn't do this. The war should stop at certain point. This is very difficult. I'm so confused.

AKINWOTU: Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR News, Lagos.