A 24-hour truce agreed between Sudan's rival military factions was quickly disrupted by renewed gunfire in the Khartoum capital region today, despite US pressure to calm fighting that has touched off a humanitarian crisis.
Heavy gunfire echoed in the background of live feeds by Arab television news channels and residents said that shooting had not ceased, with one saying they had heard an airstrike being carried out in Omdurman, Khartoum's sister city on the opposite bank of the Nile river.
The conflict between Sudan's military leader and his deputy broke out four days ago, triggering what the United Nations has described as a humanitarian catastrophe, including the near collapse of the health system.
At least 185 people have been killed in the fighting across the country.
The ceasefire that formally took effect at 6pm (4pm Irish time) would not extend beyond the agreed 24 hours, Army General Shams El Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan's ruling military council, said earlier on al Arabiya TV.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Japan, said he had telephoned both army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), appealing for the 24-hour ceasefire "to allow the Sudanese to be safely reunited with families" and to provide them with relief.
Fighting appeared to tail off close to the deadline for the ceasefire, which coincided with the evening breaking of the daily fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, but heavy gunfire reverberated around the capital region after 6pm.
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A Reuters reporter in Khartoum said he heard tanks firing after the ceasefire was due to have started.
The source of shooting was unclear, though the RSF accused the military of violating the ceasefire within 15 minutes of it taking effect.
Earlier in the day the sounds of warplanes and explosions echoed across Khartoum.
Residents in the neighbouring cities of Omdurman and Bahri reported air strikes that shook buildings and anti-aircraft fire.
Fighting also raged in the west of the country, the United Nations said.
In video verified by Reuters, RSF fighters could be seen inside a section of the army headquarters in Khartoum.
The fighters did not appear to control the sprawling site, a Reuters reporter in the capital said.
General Burhan heads a ruling council installed after a 2021 military coup and the 2019 ouster of veteran autocratic president Omar Bashir during mass protests.
Hemedti is Mr Burhan's deputy on the ruling council.
Their power struggle has derailed an internationally-backed plan to shift to civilian democratic rule after decades of autocracy and military control in Sudan, which sits at a strategic crossroads between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Africa's volatile Sahel region.
Unless controlled, the violence also risks drawing in actors from Sudan's neighbourhood who have backed different factions and could play into competition for regional influence between Russia and the United States.
A previous shorter ceasefire agreed for Sunday was not fully observed. Artillery volleys, strikes by combat aircraft and street fighting have made it almost impossible to travel in Khartoum, trapping residents and foreigners in their homes.
The main international airport has been under attack, halting commercial flights.
Fighters have attacked aid workers, and hospitals. Three workers for the World Food Programme were killed in the fighting on Saturday, and a UN plane was hit in crossfire.
Ireland's EU ambassador to Sudan Aidan O'Hara was also attacked in his home in Khartoum yesterday, the bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell said. A spokesperson said he was "OK" following the assault.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it was nearly impossible to provide humanitarian services around the capital. It warned that Sudan's health system was at risk of breakdown.
Regional tension
The outbreak of fighting followed rising tensions over a plan for the RSF's integration into the regular military.
Discord over the timetable for that process delayed the signing of the framework deal to launch a civilian transition that was due to be signed earlier this month.
It comes four years after former president Omar Bashir was toppled by popular protests, and nearly two years after a subsequent military coup.
Underscoring the risk a prolonged conflict presents to regional stability, army general Kabbashi said two neighbouring countries were attempting to provide aid to the RSF. He did not identify the countries.
The fighting has affected several parts of the country since Saturday, including the western desert region of Darfur, which borders Chad and suffered warfare from 2003 that killed as many as 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million.
The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that fought alongside Bashir's government forces in Darfur before the conflict ended with a 2020 peace agreement.
The United Nations reported that at least 65 people have been killed in Darfur since Saturday, including in clashes involving heavy artillery.
Eight people had been killed in Nyala, one of Sudan's largest cities, located in South Darfur, the UN said. The city also saw extensive looting of NGOs, businesses and hospitals, it said in a statement, adding that shooting was ongoing.
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The World Health Organization had already warned that several Khartoum hospitals tending to wounded civilians "have run out of blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids and other vital supplies".
In the western region of Darfur, international medical aid organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported receiving 136 wounded patients at the only hospital in El Fasher still operating in North Darfur state.
"The majority of the wounded are civilians who were caught in the crossfire - among them are many children," MSF's Cyrus Paye said.
Due to limited surgical capacity, "11 people died from their injuries in the first 48 hours of the conflict".
Three UN World Food Programme staff were also among those killed on Saturday in Darfur, where humanitarian missions have had medical and other supplies looted, according to Save the Children and MSF.
A number of organisations have temporarily suspended operations in the country, where one-third of the population needs aid.
"This renewed fighting only aggravates what was already a fragile situation, forcing UN agencies and our humanitarian partners to temporarily shutter many of our more than 250 programmes across Sudan," said UN emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths.
Influential northern neighbour Egypt said it had discussed with Saudi Arabia, South Sudan and Djibouti - all close allies of Sudan - "the need to make every effort to preserve stability and safety".
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on the two warring parties to "return to the negotiating table" and said he was working on the return of Egyptian military "trainers" captured Saturday at an air base by RSF forces.
There are no more civilian flights arriving in Khartoum, where fighting has damaged aircraft.
