Thousands of residents fled Sudan\u2019s capital on Wednesday as fighting between the army and paramilitaries \u2014 which has killed around 200 people \u2014 raged for a fifth day after a 24-hour truce collapsed.
\nThe violence erupted on Saturday between the forces of two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup: army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
\nIt followed a bitter dispute between them over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army \u2014 a key condition for a final deal aimed at restoring Sudan\u2019s democratic transition.
\nDeafening explosions rattled buildings and heavy gunfire were heard in Khartoum, as witnesses said plumes of thick black smoke emanated from buildings around the army headquarters in central Khartoum.
\nRSF fighters atop armoured vehicles and pick-up trucks laden with heavy weapons swarmed the streets, as the army\u2019s fighter jets roared overhead and fired on RSF targets, witnesses said.
\nCivilians huddled in their homes were becoming increasingly desperate, with dwindling food supplies, power outages, and a lack of running water.
\nTheir hopes of being evacuated were dashed when a 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire collapsed within minutes of its proposed start at 1600 GMT on Tuesday.
\nThousands of people took matters into their own hands and, according to witnesses, began leaving their homes in Khartoum, some in cars and others on foot, including women and children.
\nThey said the streets were littered with dead bodies, the stench of which filled the air.
\nForeigners stuck
\nThe fighting has killed at least 185 people and injured more than 1,800, according to the United Nations (UN).
\nBut the real figure is thought to be far higher with many wounded unable to reach hospitals, which are themselves being shelled, according to the official doctors\u2019 union.
\nGovernments have started planning to evacuate thousands of foreigners stuck in the country, among them many UN staff.
\nJapan said its defence ministry had begun the \u201cnecessary preparations\u201d to evacuate around 60 of its nationals from Sudan, including embassy staff.
\nThe US embassy in Khartoum said it started gathering citizens\u2019 personal details while urging them to remain indoors and stay away from windows.
\n\u201cDue to the uncertain security situation in Khartoum and closure of the airport, there are no plans for [a] US government-coordinated evacuation,\u201d it tweeted.
\nThe violence has also seen a US diplomatic convoy fired upon, the European Union\u2019s ambassador attacked at home and a Belgian humanitarian official with the EU hospitalised after reportedly being shot.
\nOn Tuesday, UN emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths said the UN had received \u201creports of attacks and sexual violence against aid workers\u201d.
\nAid groups have reported looting of medical and other supplies.
\nAfter the collapse of the truce, the army accused the \u201crebel militia\u201d of failing to commit to it and of continuing \u201cskirmishes around the army headquarters and the airport\u201d.
\nThe RSF pointed the finger at the army for \u201ccommitting violations\u201d and breaching the ceasefire by launching \u201csporadic attacks\u201d on its forces and bases around the capital.
\nInternational actors \u2018bide time\u2019
\nThe latest violence, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramazan, came after more than 120 civilians had already been killed in a crackdown on regular pro-democracy demonstrations over the past 18 months.
\nBoth generals have positioned themselves as saviours of Sudan and guardians of democracy in a country that has known only brief democratic interludes.
\nSince the start of fighting, each side has claimed the upper hand and that they have taken control of key sites or made advances on the other\u2019s bases across Sudan.
\nNone of the claims could be independently verified.
\n\u201cNeither side seems to be winning at the moment, and given the intensity of the violence, things could get even worse before the two generals come to the negotiating table,\u201d said Clement Deshayes, a Sudan specialist at Paris\u2019s Sorbonne University.
\nBut that would necessitate \u201cregional allies exerting pressure, and right now their declarations aren\u2019t heading in that direction \u2014 with international actors seemingly biding their time until the situation is clearer\u201d.
\nSaturday\u2019s outbreak of violence is the culmination of deep-seated divisions between the army and the RSF, which was created in 2013 by longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
\nBurhan and Daglo toppled Bashir together in April 2019 following mass protests against his three decades of iron-fisted rule.
\nThey have since been allies with their relationship interspersed with brief periods of tensions.
\nIn October 2021, the pair led a military coup against the civilian government, which was installed following Bashir\u2019s ouster, derailing an internationally backed transition.
\nBurhan, a career soldier from northern Sudan who rose the ranks under Bashir, has maintained his coup was \u201cnecessary\u201d to include more factions into politics.
\nBut Daglo, also known as Hemeti, has since called the coup a \u201cmistake\u201d that failed to bring about change and invigorated Bashir\u2019s remnants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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