Sudan: Fighting continues amid new ceasefire violations | World News

SudanRival armies accuse each other of new violations ceasefire The deal is set to expire on Sunday as their deadly clash continues for a third week, despite warnings of a slide into a catastrophic civil war.

Hundreds have been killed and thousands wounded since the long-simmering power struggle between the Sudanese army and paramilitary groups rapid support force (RSF) clashes broke out on 15 April.

locked in a fight KhartoumIn the Sudanese capital on the banks of the Nile, fighting continued despite a series of truces struck by mediators including the United States, the latest of which was due to expire at midnight (2200 GMT).

In Khartoum on Sunday morning, the army had been battling RSF forces stationed in residential areas and the situation was relatively calm, a Reuters reporter said, after violent clashes broke out near the city center on Saturday night.

Sudan’s army said on Sunday it had destroyed an RSF convoy heading from the west to Khartoum. The RSF said the army used artillery and warplanes to attack its positions in various parts of Khartoum province.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

The military said on Saturday that the Central Reserve Police had begun deployment south of Khartoum and would be gradually deployed to other parts of the capital, in an apparent effort to bolster its presence in the capital.

The Central Reserve Police is a large and well-equipped unit of the Sudanese police force with extensive combat experience in conflicts in the western Darfur region and the Nuba Mountains in southern Sudan.

In March 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on the Central Reserve Police, accusing it of using excessive force against protesters demonstrating against a 2021 military coup in Khartoum and elsewhere.

UAV, Fighter

In the fighting in Khartoum so far, RSF forces have fanned out across the city as the army tries to target them mainly with airstrikes from drones and fighter jets.

Clashes this month have sent tens of thousands of people fleeing to neighboring countries and sparked warnings that Sudan could disintegrate and destabilize restive regions.

It has also undermined an internationally-backed political transition aimed at establishing a democratic government in Sudan, where former authoritarian President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was overthrown in 2019 after three decades in power.

So far, prospects for talks appear bleak.

Army leader General Abdul Fattah al-Burhan said he would never sit down with General Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemeti. The head of the RSF, in turn, said he would only talk after the military had ceased hostilities.

Still, Volker Pertes, the U.N. special representative for Sudan, told Reuters on Saturday that he had sensed a recent change in attitude from both sides, who were more open to negotiations, saying they would be open to “some form of negotiation.” .

At least 528 people were killed and 4,599 injured, the health ministry said. The United Nations has reported a similar death toll, but believes the real toll is much higher.

The largest flight of foreign citizens is one of such evacuations since the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan in 2021.

A convoy organized by the U.S. government arrived in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan on Saturday to evacuate U.S. citizens, local staff and others.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. government would help evacuees travel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He did not say how many Americans remained in the country.

The Foreign Office said on Saturday that 1,888 people had been evacuated on 21 flights since the evacuation operation began on Tuesday.