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Clashes resume in Sudan minutes after three-day ceasefire expires

Sudan has been ravaged by fighting between the army and the RSF since April, in a conflict that killed nearly 1,000 civilians and injured 5,000 others, local medics say.

AFP

The truce had brought relative calm to Sudan's capital, Khartoum, since it took effect, but fierce fighting was reported starting Tuesday night in parts of the city. / Photo: AFP

Clashes resumed between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary RSF after a three-day ceasefire expired Wednesday morning, a protest group and residents have reported.

Sudan descended into conflict in mid-April after months of worsening tensions exploded into open fighting between rival generals seeking to control the African nation.

The conflict pits the military, led by Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, against the Rapid Support Forces, a militia-turned-paramilitary force commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The ceasefire, brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia, expired Wednesday at 6 am local time. The truce had brought relative calm to Sudan's capital Khartoum since it took effect, but fierce fighting was reported starting Tuesday night in parts of the city.

Residents said the clashes centred around an intelligence headquarters near Khartoum International Airport. There were sporadic clashes elsewhere in the capital, according to three people who live in the capital.

'Calm' in Sudan's capital as 72-hour ceasefire takes effect

Battles intensify

"The battles have been intensified," said Khalid Abdel-Rahman who lives in Khartoum’s city centre. “Sounds of gunfire echoed across the area.”

Fierce clashes were also reported around a military facility in the neighbouring city of Omdurman, according to area resistance committees that are part of a wider group that spearheaded pro-democracy demonstrations over the past years.

The resumption of fighting signals that US and Saudi efforts to extend the truce have failed. Both Washington and Riyadh have been mediating between the warring factions to stop the clashes.

The conflict has been centred largely in the capital and western Sudan's Darfur region, which have seen ethnicity-motivated attacks on non-Arab communities by the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias, according to UN officials.

The fighting has killed thousands of people and forced more than 2.5 million people to flee their homes to safer areas in Sudan and neighbouring countries, according to the UN migration agency.