Warplanes on bombing raids drew heavy fire over Khartoum as fighting between Sudan’s army and paramilitaries entered a third week with the UN chief warning the country was falling apart.
More than 500 people have been killed since battles erupted on April 15 between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and his former number two Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The deadly clashes between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed at least 528 people and wounded 4,599, the Sudanese Health Ministry said in a report.
The report said on Saturday that the extension of the ceasefire brought relative calm to most of the country’s states, except for West Darfur and the capital Khartoum, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The number of health services centres in Khartoum has been expanded and the communication with hospitals has been improved,” the report noted.
The army chief and RSF commander have agreed to multiple truces but none has taken hold as the number of dead civilians continues to rise and chaos and lawlessness grip Khartoum, a city of five million people where many have been cloistered in their homes lacking food, water, and electricity.
Smoke drifts over the area around Khartoum airport.
Tens of thousands have been uprooted within Sudan or embarked on arduous trips to neighbouring Chad, Egypt, South Sudan or Ethiopia to flee the battles.
“There is no right to go on fighting for power when the country is falling apart,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television.
The latest three-day ceasefire — due to expire at midnight (2200 GMT) Sunday — was agreed on Thursday after mediation led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the Unitorganizations”We woke up once again to the sound of fighter jets and anti-aircraft weapons blasting all over our neighbourhood,” a witness in southern Khartoum told AFP.
Another said fighting had continued since the early morning, especially around the state broadcaster’s headquarters in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman.
Other witnesses reported exchanges of machine gun fire across the Blue Nile in Khartoum North, while the sound of gunfire rang out in Burri in the east of the city.
Smoke drifted over the area around Khartoum airport.
The Ministry also said that arrangements were being made with a number of partners from friendly countries and international and regional organisations to provide medical supplies to people in dire need.
As the armed conflict between the Sudanese Army and the RSF entered the third week, foreign countries are racing to evacuate their citizens, and tens of thousands of Sudanese are escaping the war-ravaged country for safety.
