Heavy clashes and artillery fire erupted in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, Sunday, including reports of residents of airstrikes as soon as the 24-hour ceasefire ended, leaving a brief eight-week battle between warring military factions.
Witnesses said the toughest fighting in recent weeks broke out between Sudanese soldiers and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), including land battles in a densely populated neighborhood of Haji Youssef in Bahri, one of three adjacent cities, along with Khartoum and Omdurman, which formed the capital city around the Nile meeting.
Saudi Arabia and the US, which mediated a ceasefire at talks in Jeddah, said the ceasefire had allowed the delivery of some essential humanitarian aid and confidence-building measures.
"However, there were violations, and after the end of the short-term ceasefire, the facilitators were deeply disappointed by the resumption of intense violence, which we harshly cursed," they said in a statement.
Right after the ceasefire ended at 6 a.m. (04:00 a.m. GMT), eyewitnesses said clashes and artillery fire continued north of Omdurman. They also reported fighting in southern and central Khartoum. Also in Shambat, along the Nile in Bahri to the strategic Halfiya bridge, which crosses into Omdurman.
"The ceasefire made us relax a bit, but war and fear returned today," said Musab Saleh, a 38-year-old southern Khartoum resident.
Mohamed Usher, a local activist who visited two artillery shooting locations in southern Khartoum, said at least 11 civilians had died there. In East Khartoum, six civilians were killed in the fighting, an activist in the area said.
It is known that the war between the Sudanese army and the RSF paramilitary broke out on April 15 over tensions related to internationally-backed plans for a transition to civilian rule.
The conflict has killed hundreds of civilians and abandoned more than 1.9 million people, sparking a major humanitarian crisis that threatens to spread throughout the volatile region.
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