Heavy gunfire, explosions rock Khartoum after ceasefire extended
Sudan's army and a rival paramilitary force have agreed to extend a truce by 72 hours, but heavy gunfire and detonations continue to rattle residential neighborhoods of the capital.
Strikes from the air, tanks and artillery shook Khartoum on Friday and a heavy bombardment pounded the adjacent city of Bahri, where a thick smoke was rising above two areas, news agencies reported.
The fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that erupted on April 15 has killed hundreds and forces tens of thousands to flee for their lives.
In the capital, many residents are pinned down by urban warfare with little access to food, fuel, water and electricity. The army has been directing airstrikes with jets or drones on RSF forces spread out in neighborhoods across Khartoum.
The RSF on Friday accused the army of violating a US- and Saudi-brokered truce pact announced Thursday night by carrying out airstrikes on its bases in Omdurman, Khartoum's sister city.
A Turkish evacuation plane came under fire as it was landing in Omdurman but there were no injuries, Turkey's defense ministry said.
So far, at least 512 people have been killed and close to 4,200 wounded by the fighting since 15 April, according to the Sudanese health ministry.
According to experts, the situation in Sudan could worsen at any moment, with intense violence in the days to come.
The World Food Programme has warned that the violence could plunge millions more into hunger in a country where one-third of the population, around 15 million people, are in need of aid.
Abdou Dieng, UN aid chief in Sudan, speaking from Port Sudan on Thursday, said he was "extremely worried about the situation", with food supplies a huge concern.
The fighting has pitted the army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, head of the paramilitary RSF, which emerged from the militia that the Omar al-Bashir government unleashed in Darfur.
Burhan and Daglo seized full power in a 2021 coup, but have now fallen out and gone to war, hurtling Sudan into deeper turmoil.
The fighting, which has involved airstrikes and artillery exchanges. The deadly chaos has reduced some districts of greater Khartoum to ruins. There have been multiple truce efforts by various countries to end the fighting but to no avail.
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