A Sudanese eyewitness in the Sudanese capital Khartoum reported on Monday that the area “east of the Nile in the east of Khartoum was subjected to aerial bombardment.”
Another eyewitness in the south of the capital said that “aviation shelling and anti-aircraft strikes have been going on since the morning. Nothing has changed since the beginning of the conflict. The situation is getting worse despite the talk of a truce, but the violence on both sides and people’s fears are increasing every day.”
The Sudanese army carried out air strikes on Monday along the River Nile in the north of the capital Khartoum as it fought to push back its paramilitary rivals after a month of warfare, witnesses said.
Intense battles in Khartoum and its sister cities of Bahri and Omdurman have raged despite Saudi and U.S.-brokered talks between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Red Sea city of Jeddah aimed at securing humanitarian access and an effective ceasefire.
The fighting has spread to the western region of Darfur, already scarred by a long-running conflict, but has been concentrated in the capital, where RSF fighters have taken up positions across neighborhoods and the army has used air strikes and heavy artillery fire to target them.
The RSF’s leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti) dismissed rumours that he had been killed or injured in the battles.
“I am moving freely around my forces, I am present in Bahri, I am present in Omdurman, I am present in Khartoum, I am present in Sharq al-Nil,” Hemedti said in a voice message released by the RSF.
“They are spreading rumours that Mohamed Hamdan has been killed, and these are all lies that show that they are being defeated ” he said.
Army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Hemedti held the top positions on Sudan’s ruling council following the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir, and staged a coup two years later as a deadline to hand power to civilians approached.
The war broke out after disputes over plans for the RSF to be absorbed into the army and the chain of command in a new political transition.
It has caused about 200,000 to flee into neighbouring countries and more than 700,000 have been displaced inside Sudan, triggering a humanitarian crisis that threatens to destabilize the region.
