Khartoum (AFP) - The forces of two rival generals fought intense street battles in Sudan's capital on Friday, witnesses reported, as the parties in the week-long conflict ignored appeals for an end-of-Ramadan ceasefire.
More than 400 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.
Khartoum was rocked by explosions and clashes for the sixth straight night, medics said, even as the Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the holy Muslim month of fasting began.
Eid is meant to be spent "with sweets and pastries, with happy children, and people greeting relatives", Khartoum resident Sami al-Nour told AFP.Instead, there has been "gunfire and the stench of blood all around us".
Soldiers and paramilitaries fought fierce street battles in densely populated districts of Khartoum, with witnesses reporting bombs falling near the army's headquarters in the city of five million.
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.
The RSF, a powerful force formed from members of the Janjaweed militia that led years of extreme violence in the western Darfur region, said they would commit to a 72-hour truce starting at dawn (0400 GMT).
But it failed to take hold, like two previous one, with the crackle of heavy gunfire heard in the streets and columns of black smoke drifting overhead.
The World Health Organization said 413 people had been killed and 3,551 wounded in the fighting so far across Sudan, but the death toll is thought to be higher, with many wounded unable to reach hospitals.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) urged the parties "immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access" to reach the wounded, stressing it was a "legal obligation under international humanitarian law".
'Nightmare scenario'
On Thursday, dozens of Burhan loyalists rallied in Port Sudan against the presence of the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, which has been accused of links to Daglo, denouncing "foreign interference".
Analysts have warned the conflict could impact countries across the region, with the UN saying up to 20,000 people have already fled to neighbouring Chad.
For the first time since hostilities began a week ago, Burhan appeared on television.
"For Eid this year, our country is bleeding: destruction, desolation and the sound of bullets have taken precedence over joy," he said in a pre-recorded video.
"We hope that we will come out of this ordeal more united...a single army, a single people...towards a civilian power."
The International Crisis Group (ICG) said urgent steps were needed to stop a descent into "full-blown civil war", warning "the nightmare scenario that many feared in Sudan is unfolding."
The World Food Programme warned the violence could plunge millions more into hunger in a country where 15 million people -- one-third of the population -- need aid.
It has suspended its Sudan operations after the killing of three WFP workers on Saturday.
On Friday, the UN migration agency said one of its employees had died after his vehicle "was caught in a crossfire".
Burhan and Daglo's bitter dispute centred on the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army, a key condition for a deal aimed at restoring Sudan's democratic transition.
"What's taking place was inevitable," said Khartoum resident Ibrahim Awad."A country ruled by two leaders cannot move forward, there can't be two armies."
'They don't care'
Civilians are becoming increasingly desperate with thousands risking the dangerous streets to flee Khartoum, with many reporting streets strewn with corpses.
"This is a mere power struggle," said citizen Abdul Wahid Othman in Khartoum."They don't care about poor citizens who have been left without water, electricity...".
Plans were being made to evacuate foreign citizens, with the United States, South Korea and Japan deploying forces to nearby countries and the European Union weighing a similar move.
Medics have warned of a tragedy, with over two-thirds of hospitals in Khartoum and neighbouring states rendered "out of service" by the fighting, the doctors' union said.At least four hospitals were shelled in North Kordofan state, they said.
In El Fasher in Darfur, some 800 kilometres (500 miles) southwest of Khartoum, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said the situation was "catastrophic".
"There are so many patients that they are being treated on the floor," said MSF project coordinator Cyrus Paye.
Burhan and Daglo toppled autocratic president Omar al-Bashir together in April 2019 following massive protests against his three decades of iron-fisted rule.
In October 2021, they joined forces to oust a civilian government installed after Bashir's downfall, derailing an internationally-backed transition to democracy.
"With neither Burhan nor Hemeti appearing ready to back down, the situation could get much worse," the ICG think tank said.
"Even if the army eventually does secure the capital, and Hemeti retreats to Darfur, a civil war could well follow, with potentially destabilising impact in neighbouring Chad, the Central African Republic, Libya and South Sudan", the ICG added.
