KHARTOUM: The Sudanese army personnel pounded paramilitaries forces in Khartoum with air strikes Thursday while deadly fighting flared in Darfur as the clock ticked down on a US-brokered truce now in its final day.
Late Wednesday, the army officials said it had agreed to hold talks in Juba, on extending the 3-day ceasefire, which expires on Friday. There have been multiple ceasefire efforts since fighting broke out on April 15 in Sudan between the regular army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but all have failed.
New Air Strikes Hit Khartoum, Sudan
According to AFP, the fighting between the two sides has continued despite the Washington-brokered truce that took effect on Tuesday, with warplanes patrolling the skies over Sudan’s northern suburbs as fighters on the land have exchanged heavy machine gun fire, eyewitnesses said.
General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan agreed on Wednesday to the proposal for dialogue on extending the ceasefire by a further 72 hours, the army officials said. However, the RSF’s reply to the proposal remains unclear.
According to media reports, as many as 512 people were killed and 4,193 injured in the fighting in Sudan. Health officials said that 8 civilians were killed in Khartoum on Wednesday despite the ceasefire.
Reports suggest that over two-thirds of hospitals in Sudan were out of medical service, including 14 that had been targeted during the fighting in the African country.
Earlier, the UN humanitarian agency reported looting, killings, and burning in Geneina. The heavy fighting in the country has trapped many civilians in their homes, where they have suffered severe shortages of food items, water and electricity.
The United Nations has warned that over 270,000 people could flee into Sudan’s poorer neighbors Chad and South Sudan.
