Sudan’s army and a rival paramilitary group are facing mounting international pressure to end a conflict that has claimed hundreds of lives since it erupted last weekend.
The African Union and representatives from organizations and governments including the U.S., China, U.K. and Russia, issued a joint statement late Thursday condemning the violence and calling for an immediate cease-fire, effective from midnight. The plea went unheeded, with several residents reporting heavy fire in Khartoum, the capital, and the city of Omdurman on Friday.
The fighting between the military, which is headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has killed at least 330 people and left almost 3,200 others wounded, according to the World Health Organization. With parts of the North African country rendered a no-fly zone and supplies of water, fuel and other essentials in increasingly short supply, foreign governments are struggling to evacuate their citizens.
