Fighting intensifies in Khartoum despite US sanctions

Shelling has rocked greater Khartoum, as fighting between Sudan's warring generals intensified despite sanctions imposed by the United States after the collapse of a US- and Saudi-brokered truce.

Witnesses reported artillery fire around the state television building in the capital's sister city of Omdurman, just across the Nile, on Friday.

For nearly seven weeks, deadly fighting between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has gripped Khartoum and the western region of Darfur despite repeated efforts to broker a humanitarian ceasefire.

The army announced it had brought reinforcements to the capital from other parts of Sudan to participate in "operations in the Khartoum area".

Sudan analyst Kholood Khair said the army was "expected to launch a massive offensive" to "clear" the paramilitaries from the streets of Khartoum.

US sanctions

Washington slapped sanctions on the warring parties on Thursday, holding them both responsible for provoking "appalling" bloodshed.

The US Treasury placed two major arms companies of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Defence Industries System and Sudan Master Technology, on its blacklist.

In parallel, it placed sanctions on gold miner Al Junaid Multi Activities Co Ltd. and arms trader Tradive General Trading, two companies controlled by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and his family.

The State Department meanwhile imposed visa restrictions on both army and RSF officials, saying they were complicit in "undermining Sudan's democratic transition." It did not provide their names.

Since fighting erupted on April 15, more than 1,800 people have been killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

The UN says 1.2 million people have been displaced within Sudan and more than 425,000 have fled abroad.

UN mission up for renewal

Later Friday, the UN Security Council was set to review its mission in Sudan, whose mandate expires on Saturday.

The majority of mission staff have been evacuated and Burhan has demanded the replacement of its current chief, Volker Perthes, who the Sudanese general accused of stoking the conflict with the RSF.

When the fighting erupted, the UN envoy had been focused on finalising a deal to restore Sudan's promised transition to civilian rule which was derailed by a 2021 coup by the two generals.

Growing differences between them had threatened to torpedo the deal, which they were supposed to iron out in UN-backed talks on the day they turned Khartoum into a conflict zone.

Some 25 million people, more than half Sudan's population, are now in need of aid and protection, according to the United Nations.