Heavy fighting in Khartoum as power struggle rages

On Thursday, the army battled the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) near the presidential palace and army headquarters in central Khartoum, with a ceasefire elusive.

After two weeks of warfare, both sides look to be fighting for control of the capital before any negotiations.

Heavy bombardments also rang out in the neighbouring cities of Omdurman and Bahri. The sides violated a seven-day ceasefire.

“Since yesterday evening, and this morning, there are air strikes and the sounds of clashes,” said Al-Sadiq Ahmed, a 49-year-old engineer speaking from Khartoum.

“We’re in constant fear because the battles are in residential neighborhoods. We don’t know when this nightmare and fear will end.”

The United Nations, meanwhile, pressed Sudan’s warring factions on Wednesday to guarantee safe passage of humanitarian aid after six trucks were looted and air strikes in the capital undermined a supposed truce.

U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said he hoped to have face-to-face meetings with Sudan’s warring parties within two to three days to secure guarantees from them for aid convoys to deliver relief supplies.

The United Nations has warned that combat between the army and RSF, which erupted on April 15, risks generating a humanitarian catastrophe that could spill into other countries. On Tuesday, Sudan reported 550 deaths and 4,926 injuries from the conflict.

About 100,000 people have fled Sudan with little food or water to neighbouring countries, the U.N. says.

After fighting RSF in Bahri, the army said it killed RSF fighters and destroyed rebel vehicles.

Two years ago, the army and RSF staged a coup and shared power as part of an internationally supported transition to free elections and civilian government before falling out.

The RSF accused the army of breaching a ceasefire and attacking forces since dawn. It said the army “cowardly” bombed its neighborhoods.