Sudanese army pounds paramilitaries in Khartoum as US seeks truce extension

The Sudanese army has pounded paramilitaries in Khartoum with air strikes while deadly fighting flared in Darfur, as Washington sought to extend a US-brokered ceasefire for three more days.

There have been multiple truce efforts since fighting broke out on April 15 between Sudan's army led by General Abdel Fattah al Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his deputy turned rival, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

All have failed.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was "very actively working to extend the ceasefire" between the warring generals.

"We've had a 72-hour ceasefire, which like most ceasefires is imperfect but nonetheless has reduced violence. And that's obviously created somewhat better conditions for people in Sudan," he told reporters on Thursday.

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'Intense shelling'

Burhan on Wednesday said he would consider a proposal by the East African IGAD bloc for another three-day ceasefire when the current truce formally expires at midnight (2200 GMT), but no further details have been released and the RSF's response to the proposal is unclear.

On Thursday, warplanes patrolled over the capital's northern suburbs as fighters on the ground exchanged artillery and heavy machinegun fire, witnesses said.

"I hear intense shelling outside my home," a Khartoum resident said, asking not to be named.

At least 512 people have been killed and 4,193 wounded in the fighting, according to health ministry figures, although the real death toll is likely much higher.

Hospitals have been shelled and more than two thirds are out of service, the doctors' union said Thursday, reporting at least eight civilians killed in Khartoum alone on Wednesday.

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