Sudan’s warring forces battled Friday with heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere in the country, as they ignored appeals by world powers for an end-of-Ramadan ceasefire.
More than 300 people have been killed and thousands wounded since the fighting erupted Saturday between forces loyal to Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the commander of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) who is commonly known as Hemeti.
The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said that overnight, as the Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the Muslim Ramadan month of fasting began, “several areas of Khartoum were bombed” and reported “shelling and clashes” for the sixth straight night.
Khartoum has seen some of the fiercest fighting with air strikes and tanks firing in densely packed districts, with most of its five million people sheltering at home in baking heat without electricity, food or water. Communications are heavily disrupted.
Both UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called separately for a ceasefire of “at least” three days to mark Eid, as explosions and gunfire resounded in Khartoum.