Sudan: Army pounds paramilitary in Khartoum as fighting escalates in Darfur

The Sudanese army pounded paramilitaries in Khartoum with air strikes on Thursday while deadly fighting flared in Darfur, as Washington sought to extend an "imperfect" US-brokered ceasefire for three more days.

There have been multiple truce efforts since fighting broke out on April 15 between Sudan's army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his deputy turned rival, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. All have failed.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was "very actively working to extend the ceasefire" between the warring generals.

"We've had a 72-hour ceasefire, which like most ceasefires is imperfect but nonetheless has reduced violence. And that's obviously created somewhat better conditions for people in Sudan," he told reporters.

Burhan on Wednesday said he would consider a proposal by the East African IGAD bloc for another three-day ceasefire when the current truce formally expires at midnight (2200 GMT), but no further details have been released and the RSF's response to the proposal is unclear.

On Thursday, warplanes patrolled over the capital's northern suburbs as fighters on the ground exchanged artillery and heavy machinegun fire, witnesses said.

At least 512 people have been killed and 4,193 wounded in the fighting, according to health ministry figures, although the real death toll is likely much higher.

The doctors' union said at least eight civilians were killed in Khartoum alone on Wednesday.

More than two thirds of Sudan's hospitals were out of service, the union said Thursday, including 14 hit during the fighting.

Fighting has also flared in the provinces, particularly in the war-torn western region of Darfur.

Witnesses said clashes raged for a second day in the West Darfur capital El Geneina, with pro-democracy medics reporting a doctor shot dead.

"We are locked up at home and too afraid to go out, so we can't assess the scale of the damage," said a resident, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons.

The UN humanitarian agency said the fighting in West Darfur had disrupted food to "an estimated 50,000 acutely malnourished children".

The violence has trapped many civilians in their homes, where they have endured severe food, water and electricity shortages.

Those who can afford to have taken the long and risky journey to flee the country.

Egypt said Thursday that at least 14,000 Sudanese refugees had crossed the border since fighting erupted, as well as 2,000 people from 50 other countries.

"End the war", 50-year-old refugee Ashraf told the warring generals after entering Egypt. "This is your own conflict, not that of the Sudanese people".

At least 20,000 people have escaped into Chad, 4,000 into South Sudan, 3,500 into Ethiopia and 3,000 into the Central African Republic, according to the UN, which has warned if fighting continues as many as 270,000 people could flee.

Foreign governments have scrambled to get thousands of their citizens out, but some have warned that evacuation efforts are dependent on the relative lull in fighting holding.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly urged Britons to leave while they can.

"We cannot guarantee how many further flights will depart once the ceasefire ends," he said.

A Saudi evacuation ship docked in the Red Sea port of Jeddah Thursday carrying 187 Sudan evacuees from 25 countries, including the United States, Russia and Turkey, Riyadh said.

It was the eighth such crossing organised by Saudi Arabia since the fighting began, and took the total evacuated to the kingdom to 2,544, only 119 of them Saudis, the foreign ministry said.

Canada said on Thursday it had completed its first military flight carrying evacuees out of Sudan, with Defence Minister Anita Anand calling the situation "very volatile".

As lawlessness has gripped Sudan, there have been several jailbreaks, including from the high security Kober prison where top aides of ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir were held.

Among the escapees is Ahmed Harun, wanted by the International Criminal Court to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Harun's escape sparked fears of the involvement of Bashir loyalists in the ongoing fighting.

The army said the ousted dictator was not among those who escaped, as he had been moved to a military hospital before fighting erupted.

Daglo's RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia, accused of carrying out atrocities against civilians during Bashir's brutal suppression of ethnic minority rebels in Darfur in the mid-2000s.

Bashir was toppled by the military in April 2019 following civilian mass protests that raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power together in a 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.