© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man walks as smoke billows over buildings following aerial bombardment during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Noureldin Abdullah/File Photo
CAIRO/DUBAI (Reuters) – Air strikes pounded remote areas of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, overnight and Saturday morning, as fighting that has plunged civilians into a humanitarian crisis and displaced more than a million entered its sixth week.
Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has led to a breakdown in law and order, with looting that both sides blame the other for. Stocks of food, cash and necessities are rapidly dwindling.
Eyewitnesses reported air strikes in South Omdurman and North Bahri, the two cities on the Nile from Khartoum that make up the “triple capital” of Sudan. Eyewitnesses said that some of the raids took place near the state radio and television in Omdurman.
Eyewitnesses in Khartoum said that the situation was relatively calm, although sporadic gunshots were heard.
The conflict, which began on 15 April, has displaced nearly 1.1 million people internally and into neighboring countries. The World Health Organization said at least 705 people were killed and 5,287 wounded.
The US and Saudi Arabia-sponsored talks in Jeddah were not fruitful, and both sides accused each other of violating several ceasefire agreements.
“We encountered heavy artillery fire early this morning and the whole house was shaking,” Sana Hassan, 33, who lives in the Salha district of Omdurman, told Reuters by phone.
“It was terrifying, everyone was lying under their beds. What’s happening is a nightmare,” she said.
The Rapid Support Forces are present in residential neighborhoods, which leads to almost continuous air raids by the regular armed forces.
In recent days, ground fighting has broken out again in the Darfur region, in the cities of Nyala and Zalingei.
Both sides blamed each other in remarks late on Friday for sparking the fighting in Nyala, one of the country’s largest cities, where relative calm has prevailed for weeks due to a locally brokered truce.
A local activist told Reuters that sporadic clashes took place near the city’s main market, near the army headquarters, on Saturday morning. Activists said nearly 30 people had been killed in the previous two days of fighting.
War broke out in Khartoum after disagreements over plans to integrate the RSF into the army and over the future chain of command under an internationally backed deal to transition Sudan toward democracy after decades of conflict-torn authoritarianism.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced late Friday that it has provided more than $100 million to Sudan and countries receiving fleeing Sudanese, including much-needed food and medical aid.
“It is difficult to convey the scale of suffering that is happening now in Sudan,” said Samantha Power, head of the agency.