Many people in Sudan, where an Eid truce between the military rivals is meant to be in place, cannot afford to celebrate the Muslim holiday properly.
Eid al-Adha, meaning “festival of sacrifice”, commemorates the time the Prophet Ibrahim was ordered by Allah to sacrifice his son – and as he was about to do so, the boy was exchanged for a ram.
To mark this remarkable test of faith, Muslims in some countries like Sudan sacrifice a sheep or goat and the meat is shared equally between family, friends and the poor.
But Abdel Ati Abbas, the country’s religious affairs minister, told BBC Sudan Lifeline that high prices after 10 weeks of war meant most families could not afford to buy an animal.
“This problem has been mainly reflected on the livestock market in Sudan, as most of the citizens cannot pay sacrificial cattle this year.”
Mohammed Abboud Soliman, a cattle trader from West Kordofan state, echoed this.
“Every Eid we used to buy a sacrifice sheep, but this Eid the situation is quite difficult because of war and because most of us did not get paid. We cannot pay for sacrifice sheep due to the high prices,” he told the BBC.
The usual sweet Eid treats from bakeries are also in short supply.
In Omdurman, one of three cities that make up Greater Khartoum, bakeries have been looted.
One resident told the BBC: “Two bakeries have been exposed to robbery and unfortunately one of the bakers was killed. These two bakeries were very important as their production was fulfilling the need of a large area.
“Houses are daily subject to looting and robbery. The situation is deteriorating.”