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Sudan experienced a near-total collapse of internet and phone services on Sunday as continued fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary group pushed the impoverished country deeper into a humanitarian crisis.
More than 420 people, including 264 civilians, have been killed and more than 3,700 have been wounded in the fighting between the Sudanese army and the powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, according to the latest World Health Organisation tally on Saturday.
Battles in the capital Khartoum, where the fighting began on April 15 before spreading across the country, have left residents facing food and fuel shortages, erratic power and water supply, and a collapse in health services.
Thousands have fled the capital, while several countries, including the US and Britain, have mounted evacuation operations since Saturday to get their diplomats and citizens out of the capital.
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A member of the Saudi Navy carries a child from a ship at Jeddah's port during the kingdom's evacuation of civilians from Sudan. Reuters -
Indian nationals evacuated from Sudan arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. EPA -
Sudanese refugees queue to receive aid from the World Food Programme near the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad. Reuters -
Tunisian citizens evacuated from Sudan leave a military aircraft upon their arrival at Tunis-Carthage International Airport. AFP -
Indians evacuated from Sudan arrive on a flight at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India. AP Photo -
Moroccan nationals, who have been evacuated from Sudan, arrive at Mohammed V airport in Casablanca, Morocco. EPA -
A boat with 1,687 civilians from more than 50 countries fleeing violence in Sudan, arrives at King Faisal naval base in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. AFP -
RSF fighters in the East Nile district of greater Khartoum. AFP -
Passengers disembark a plane from Djibouti at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport near Paris after being evacuated from Sudan. AFP -
Buildings destroyed in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan. AP -
Passengers fleeing the fighting in Sudan arrive at Wadi Karkar bus station in Aswan, Egypt. EPA -
Ali Mazloum, a Lebanese citizen who was evacuated from Sudan, is welcomed upon his arrival at Beirut airport. Reuters -
A woman helps another after fleeing clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum. Reuters -
Soldiers attend to Greek citizens evacuated from Sudan as they disembark from a military aircraft in Attica, Greece. EPA -
People carry hibiscus juice and cold water for those being evacuated from Khartoum to Port Sudan. Reuters -
Thais wait to be evacuated by boat at a port in Sudan. EPA -
Greek citizens arrive from Sudan on a military plane in Elefsina, south of Athens. AFP -
Japan's senior Vice Foreign Minister Shunsuke Takei welcomes his country's citizens in Djibouti after they were rescued from Sudan. AFP -
A member of the Saudi Royal Navy carries a child who was rescued from Sudan, in Jeddah. Reuters -
A military plane carrying evacuees arrives at Ciampino Airport near Rome, Italy. Reuters -
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani greets the country's ambassador to Sudan, Michele Tommasi, as he arrives at Ciampino Airport. Reuters -
South Korea's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Park Joon-yong, at a Saudi Air Force base in Jeddah, where he met diplomats from his country evacuated from Sudan by the kingdom's air force. Reuters -
Having fled from Sudan, a South Korean nun disembarks from a military plane after landing at King Abdullah Air Base in Jeddah. AFP -
People gather as they seek to escape the violence in Khartoum. Reuters -
Spanish diplomatic personnel and citizens wait to disembark from a military plane after being evacuated from Sudan, in Djibouti. Reuters -
A closed pharmacy and shops in the south of Khartoum as battles rage in the capital between the army and paramilitaries. AFP -
Passengers from Sudan disembark from a Spanish Air Force plane at Torrejon Airbase in Madrid. AP -
People evacuated from Sudan arrive at a military airport in Amman. AFP -
Jordan was among those countries to have rapidly flown its citizens in Sudan to safety. AFP -
This child was one of those to have arrived safely in Amman. AFP -
A building in Khartoum burns as violence rages in Sudan. EPA -
Italian citizens are flown out of the Sudanese capital on a military aircraft. Reuters -
The fighting has caused heavy damage to parts of Khartoum. EPA -
Indonesian citizens travel on a bus during an evacuation operation in Khartoum. EPA -
A Spanish military aircraft takes off from Khartoum as European countries rescue citizens from Sudan. Reuters -
Jordanians arrive at a military airport in Amman after their evacuation from Sudan to escape the fighting. AP -
French troops arrive at an air base in Djibouti to prepare to evacuate about 100 people from Sudan. AFP -
Smoke rises from buildings during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army in Khartoum. Reuters -
Saudis are met by Saudi Royal Navy staff as they arrive at Jeddah on the Red Sea after being evacuated from Sudan. Reuters -
The streets of southern Khartoum bear the scars of fighting between two factions of the Sudanese military. AFP -
A convoy leaves Khartoum for Port Sudan as fighting between military factions in the Sudanese capital continues. AFP -
A civilian convoy leaving Khartoum for Port Sudan. AFP -
Saudi citizens and people of other nations are evacuated by the Saudi Royal Navy from Port Sudan to escape the conflict. Reuters -
A photo from October 2017 of the US embassy in Khartoum. AFP -
Saudi citizens are met by Saudi Royal Navy staff as they arrive at Jeddah after being evacuated from Sudan. Reuters -
Smoke hangs over Khartoum as factions belonging to the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces go back to trading gunfire after a ceasefire failed. AP
On Sunday, the country experienced a “near-total collapse” of internet connection and phone lines nationwide, according to NetBlocks, an internet monitoring service.
“It’s possible that infrastructure has been damaged or sabotaged,” said NetBlocks director Alp Toker. “This will have a major effect on residents’ ability to stay safe and will impact the evacuation programmes that are continuing.”
A statement issued by the Joint Hospital Emergencies, a medical group, said many hospitals have been disabled by the fighting and had no fuel to operate.
It said Bahri, a sister city of Khartoum, has had no water for six days and that children and the elderly were being particularly affected by thirst.
The Bahri water plant was no longer working and the fighting is preventing engineers from reaching water plants to carry out necessary maintenance, it said.
Unicef said the fighting is taking a heavy toll on Sudanese children already suffering from malnutrition
"Sudan already has one of the highest rates of malnutrition among children in the world," Unicef spokesman James Elder said on Friday. "And now critical life-saving care for an estimated 50,000 severely malnourished children has been disrupted. This is life threatening."
He said at least nine children had been reported killed in the fighting and that more than 50 had been injured.
The fighting has continued despite both sides promising to observe a three-day ceasefire for the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Fitr that began on Friday.
Heavy clashes were reported in northern Khartoum and it remained unclear who controlled strategic locations throughout the capital city, according to an internal UN document published on Saturday.
“Due to the shortages of water, fuel, food, UN personnel and dependents are likely to try to self-relocate, with significant risks of crossfire, arrests, physical violence,” the document said.
The RSF and the army have traded accusations that the other side is impeding foreign evacuations and attacking embassy staff.
There are “no movement corridors in Khartoum officially open despite the RSF indicating openness to support evacuations,” according to the document. “Civilians are self-relocating despite the significant risks.”
Meanwhile, looting of humanitarian assets and forced entry into compounds reported since the conflict began are “expected to continue,” the UN said in the document.
In Sunday's fighting, a senior military official said army and police repelled an RSF attack on Kober Prison in Khartoum where Sudan’s longtime ruler, Omar Al Bashir, and former officials in his movement have been imprisoned since his ouster in 2019.
The official said a number of prisoners fled but Al Bashir and other high-profile inmates were still held in a “highly secure” area. The official said “a few prisoners” were killed or wounded.
The current violence came after Sudan's army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and RSF leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo fell out over a recent internationally brokered deal with democracy activists that was meant to incorporate the RSF into the military and eventually lead to civilian rule.
