Heavy fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary force broke out in the Sudanese capital on Wednesday shortly after a 72-hour truce mediated by Saudi Arabia and the US expired, according to residents.
They said Khartoum, as well as its twin cities of Bahri and Omdurman, were rocked early in the morning by heavy gunfire, artillery shelling and air strikes by low-flying jet fighters screaming overhead.
The fighting started off lightly before it quickly intensified
Imad Sheekan,
eyewitness
The army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been battling each other for supremacy since April 15, turning the Sudanese capital into a war zone, creating a major humanitarian crisis and forcing more than 2.5 million people to flee their homes.
Witnesses said army aircraft carried out air strikes in Bahri and reported artillery fire and heavy clashes in Omdurman and ground fighting in southern Khartoum.
“Air activity is very intense today across much of the city,” said Imad Sheekan, from the Shambat district in Bahri. “It has been one of the most harrowing days of the war,” he told The National.
Another resident of the capital, Noaman Ishaq, from Omdurman, said the fighting resumed about 90 minutes after the truce expired at 6am on Wednesday.
“The fighting started off lightly before it quickly intensified,” he told The National.
Late on Tuesday, the RSF claimed that army jet fighters and drones had bombed a military intelligence building its fighters have held since early in the war. There was no word from the army on the RSF claim.
The building is part of a sprawling complex near downtown Khartoum that houses the armed forces' headquarters and a presidential guesthouse.
The war between the RSF and the army is essentially a fight for supremacy between army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and his one-time ally and deputy, RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo.
The war has killed at least 3,000 and injured twice as many, according to the Health Ministry. More than 2.5 million people have been displaced by the violence. Of those, more than 500,000 have fled to neighbouring countries, chiefly Egypt, Chad and South Sudan.
The war has spilt over into the troubled Darfur region in the est where the RSF and its allied Arab militias have gone on a killing, looting and torching spree in the town of Al Geneina near the border with Chad.
The fighters attacked members of the ethnic Masalit tribe in a replay of the genocidal civil war in Darfur in the 2000s, when the government and the Janjaweed militia, the RSF's forerunner, brutally crushed an uprising by ethnic Africans seeking equality with the country's mainly Muslim and Arab northern region.
Former dictator Omar Al Bashir, ousted in 2019, was indicted by the International Criminal Court more than a decade ago for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. The Janjaweed is widely believed to have committed large-scale abuses against civilians during that war, which left 300,000 dead and 2.5 million displaced.
At least 1,100 people have been killed in the violence in Al Geneina and elsewhere in West Darfur state since the conflict began, according to activists, drawing strong international condemnation of the RSF.
RSF commander Gen Dagalo said he regretted the violence and pledged to investigate who is behind it. He also accused the army of handing out firearms to civilians in the area to sow sedition.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The biog
Name: Sarah Al Senaani
Age: 35
Martial status: Married with three children - aged 8, 6 and 2
Education: Masters of arts in cultural communication and tourism
Favourite movie: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Favourite hobbies: Art and horseback ridding
Occupation: Communication specialist at a government agency and the owner of Atelier
Favourite cuisine: Definitely Emirati - harees is my favourite dish
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Golden Shoe top five (as of March 1):
Harry Kane, Tottenham, Premier League, 24 goals, 48 points
Edinson Cavani, PSG, Ligue 1, 24 goals, 48 points
Ciro Immobile, Lazio, Serie A, 23 goals, 46 points
Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Premier League, 23 goals, 46 points
Lionel Messi, Barcelona, La Liga, 22 goals, 44 points
All%20We%20Imagine%20as%20Light
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPayal%20Kapadia%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Kani%20Kusruti%2C%20Divya%20Prabha%2C%20Chhaya%20Kadam%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Getting%20there%20and%20where%20to%20stay
%3Cp%3EFly%20with%20Etihad%20Airways%20from%20Abu%20Dhabi%20to%20New%20York%E2%80%99s%20JFK.%20There's%2011%20flights%20a%20week%20and%20economy%20fares%20start%20at%20around%20Dh5%2C000.%3Cbr%3EStay%20at%20The%20Mark%20Hotel%20on%20the%20city%E2%80%99s%20Upper%20East%20Side.%20Overnight%20stays%20start%20from%20%241395%20per%20night.%3Cbr%3EVisit%20NYC%20Go%2C%20the%20official%20destination%20resource%20for%20New%20York%20City%20for%20all%20the%20latest%20events%2C%20activites%20and%20openings.%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Roma 4
Milner (15' OG), Dzeko (52'), Nainggolan (86', 90 4')
Liverpool 2
Mane (9'), Wijnaldum (25')