Burnt-out military vehicles litter Khartoum's deserted streets

Residents' desperate choice between flight or taking refuge amid heavy fighting

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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

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  Indian nationals evacuated from Sudan arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. EPA

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  Sudanese refugees queue to receive aid from the World Food Programme near the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad. Reuters

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  Tunisian citizens evacuated from Sudan leave a military aircraft upon their arrival at Tunis-Carthage International Airport. AFP

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  Indians evacuated from Sudan arrive on a flight at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India. AP Photo

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  Moroccan nationals, who have been evacuated from Sudan, arrive at Mohammed V airport in Casablanca, Morocco. EPA

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  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

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  RSF fighters in the East Nile district of greater Khartoum. AFP

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  Passengers disembark a plane from Djibouti at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport near Paris after being evacuated from Sudan. AFP

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  Buildings destroyed in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan. AP

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  Passengers fleeing the fighting in Sudan arrive at Wadi Karkar bus station in Aswan, Egypt. EPA

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  Ali Mazloum, a Lebanese citizen who was evacuated from Sudan, is welcomed upon his arrival at Beirut airport. Reuters

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  A woman helps another after fleeing clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum. Reuters

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  Soldiers attend to Greek citizens evacuated from Sudan as they disembark from a military aircraft in Attica, Greece. EPA

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  People carry hibiscus juice and cold water for those being evacuated from Khartoum to Port Sudan. Reuters

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  Thais wait to be evacuated by boat at a port in Sudan. EPA

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  Greek citizens arrive from Sudan on a military plane in Elefsina, south of Athens. AFP

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  Japan's senior Vice Foreign Minister Shunsuke Takei welcomes his country's citizens in Djibouti after they were rescued from Sudan. AFP

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  A member of the Saudi Royal Navy carries a child who was rescued from Sudan, in Jeddah. Reuters

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  A military plane carrying evacuees arrives at Ciampino Airport near Rome, Italy. Reuters

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  Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani greets the country's ambassador to Sudan, Michele Tommasi, as he arrives at Ciampino Airport. Reuters

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  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

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  Having fled from Sudan, a South Korean nun disembarks from a military plane after landing at King Abdullah Air Base in Jeddah. AFP

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  People gather as they seek to escape the violence in Khartoum. Reuters

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  Spanish diplomatic personnel and citizens wait to disembark from a military plane after being evacuated from Sudan, in Djibouti. Reuters

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  A closed pharmacy and shops in the south of Khartoum as battles rage in the capital between the army and paramilitaries. AFP

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  Passengers from Sudan disembark from a Spanish Air Force plane at Torrejon Airbase in Madrid. AP

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  People evacuated from Sudan arrive at a military airport in Amman. AFP

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  Jordan was among those countries to have rapidly flown its citizens in Sudan to safety. AFP

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  This child was one of those to have arrived safely in Amman. AFP

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  A building in Khartoum burns as violence rages in Sudan. EPA

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  Italian citizens are flown out of the Sudanese capital on a military aircraft. Reuters

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  The fighting has caused heavy damage to parts of Khartoum. EPA

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  Indonesian citizens travel on a bus during an evacuation operation in Khartoum. EPA

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  A Spanish military aircraft takes off from Khartoum as European countries rescue citizens from Sudan. Reuters

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  Jordanians arrive at a military airport in Amman after their evacuation from Sudan to escape the fighting. AP

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  French troops arrive at an air base in Djibouti to prepare to evacuate about 100 people from Sudan. AFP

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  Smoke rises from buildings during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army in Khartoum. Reuters

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  Saudis are met by Saudi Royal Navy staff as they arrive at Jeddah on the Red Sea after being evacuated from Sudan. Reuters

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  The streets of southern Khartoum bear the scars of fighting between two factions of the Sudanese military. AFP

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  A convoy leaves Khartoum for Port Sudan as fighting between military factions in the Sudanese capital continues. AFP

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  A civilian convoy leaving Khartoum for Port Sudan. AFP

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  Saudi citizens and people of other nations are evacuated by the Saudi Royal Navy from Port Sudan to escape the conflict. Reuters

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  A photo from October 2017 of the US embassy in Khartoum. AFP

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  Saudi citizens are met by Saudi Royal Navy staff as they arrive at Jeddah after being evacuated from Sudan. Reuters

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  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

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In the Sudanese capital, charred paramilitary pickups hit by air strikes litter main streets and weary residents queue for bread in neighbourhoods largely emptied of civilian life.

On the outskirts, people haul suitcases long distances by foot towards bus stops as they try to flee the city.

A Reuters reporter returning to his family home on Sunday got a glimpse of a city enveloped by war over the past eight days. A journey that would normally last little more than 30 minutes took three hours amid the chaos of the conflict.

The clashes pit Sudan's army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. They jointly took control of the country in 2021 but are now battling over plans for an internationally-backed transition to civilian rule.

It is the first time fighting on this scale has affected the capital, which is composed of Khartoum and the adjoining cities of Bahri and Omdurman and has a total population of more than 10 million at a confluence of the Nile.

Air strikes, shelling and gun battles have ripped across the city day and night, unabated through the final days of Ramadan when Muslims fast from dawn till dusk, and through the three-day holiday of Eid Al Fitr which ended on Sunday. Repeated promises of ceasefires have not been abided by.

The RSF has embedded itself in several neighbourhoods, taking over buildings, while the army has used air strikes and heavy artillery to try to force its rival back, according to residents and witnesses who spoke to Reuters. The army has said it is trying to clear “hotbeds of rebel groups” from the capital.

The violence has cut water and power to much of the city. Damaged hospitals have closed their doors. Many civilians are trapped in their homes or stranded, risking theft and looting if they venture out.

The reporter crossed the Blue Nile to Bahri, the scene of heavy clashes over the past two days, before circling west and crossing the river to Omdurman in order to reach his family home from Khartoum, where he had been staying with relatives.

He navigated a city transformed by the military power struggle.

He saw heavy deployments of RSF fighters in the areas he drove through in the three sister cities, some manning checkpoints, where they demanded identity documents from drivers.

Army troops, who according to residents and witnesses began engaging in heavier ground fighting for the first time on Friday, could be seen at the entrance to Omdurman, where tanks, pickups and soldiers with automatic rifles were deployed.

After more than a week of warfare, the reporter found residential streets were mostly deserted. Petrol has become hard to obtain, and there were few cars on the roads. Supplies of flour and other staples are dwindling, and vegetables are scarce and expensive.

At the main market in Bahri, many buildings were badly damaged and burnt by fighting and air strikes.

In some areas further from central Khartoum, buses could be seen preparing to carry people north towards Egypt, part of a flight that has gathered pace over the past week.

People carrying small bags tried to hitch rides with passing cars or catch minibuses heading out of the city.

Near the Halfiya Bridge linking Bahri to Omdurman, a long diplomatic convoy with armed guards and flying British flags could be seen heading west, one of the evacuations of embassy staff and foreign citizens that began on Saturday and gathered pace on Sunday during a lull in the fighting.