Fighting intensifies in Khartoum as both sides appear unable to secure victory

Sudanese capital wakes up to the sound of air strikes and artillery shelling

Smoke billows above buildings in southern Khartoum amid fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary. AFP

Fighting in Sudan's civil war escalated on Tuesday with the warring sides trying to gain the upper hand in urban warfare that is unlikely to produce a clear victor.

The spike in violence suggests that neither army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan nor his nemesis Gen Mohamed Dagalo of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces is attaching much importance to the ongoing negotiations sponsored by the US and Saudi Arabia to hammer out a ceasefire.

They are also trying to agree on mechanisms to implement a declaration of principles reached last week to protect civilians and carve out corridors for humanitarian aid.

Several ceasefires declared in the last four weeks have failed to halt the fighting.

Residents said fighting escalated sharply across Khartoum on Tuesday as the army defended key bases against the RSF fighters it has been battling since April 15.

Air strikes, blasts and gunfire could be heard in several locations in the sprawling city, including south of Khartoum. There was also heavy shelling across the Nile from Khartoum in parts of the adjoining cities of Bahri and Omdurman, according to witnesses.

The fighting constitutes the latest bout of civil war in the vast Afro-Arab nation of about 44 million in north-east Africa.

In nearly seven decades since independence, Sudan has been bedevilled by years of violence in its outlying regions in the south and west.

A screen grab shows black smoke and fire at a market in Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city. Reuters

However, none of these civil wars were ever fought out in Khartoum, a Nile-side city of seven million people who have long endured the devastating impact of the civil wars and a woeful economy.

The fighting in Khartoum, moreover, has triggered violence in other parts of Sudan, primarily in the restive western Darfur region, where a civil war raged for years in the 2000s, leaving 250,000 dead and about 2 million displaced.

Officials say the recent fighting has killed 676 people and injured more than 5,000. The real toll, however, is widely thought to be much higher. The fighting has also sparked a humanitarian crisis, with at least 200,000 people seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, mostly Egypt and Chad, and another 700,000 displaced.

Those who have remained in the capital are struggling to survive with food supplies dwindling, power supply is erratic and health services collapsing. Lawlessness is also spreading. Social media in Sudan is abuzz with reports of looting, abuse of civilians and rape.

A boy holds bullet cartridges as clashes between Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army continue, in Khartoum. Reuters

“The situation is unbearable. We left our house to go to a neighbour's house in Khartoum, escaping from the war, but the bombardment follows us wherever we go,” said Ayman Hassan, a 32-year-old resident.

“We don't know what the citizens did to deserve a war in the middle of the houses.”

The army has mostly relied on air strikes and shelling in the fighting, only occasionally engaging in ground fighting. This tactic, claims the RSF, has led to many casualties among civilians.

On Tuesday, the RSF claimed in a statement it had captured 700 army troops in a counterattack in Bahri, releasing a video of rows of men in uniform sitting on the ground as its fighters celebrated around them. The report could not immediately be verified. The army also issued a denial.

Additional reporting by Reuters