Khartoum Rocked by Airstrikes, Artillery Fire

Residents in Sudan's capital reported a major increase in airstrikes and artillery fire early on Tuesday as the army fought to preserve important bases from paramilitary foes it has been engaged in combat with for more than a month.

Witnesses reported hearing airstrikes, explosions, and battles in the south of Khartoum as well as heavy shelling in some areas of the neighbouring cities of Bahri and Omdurman across the River Nile.

Although concentrated on Khartoum, the battle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has caused unrest in other parts of Sudan, particularly in the western province of Darfur.

Food supplies are running out, health facilities are failing, and anarchy is spreading, making it difficult for those who have stayed in the capital to live.

More than 5,500 injuries and 676 fatalities have been reported by authorities, but the actual death toll is likely to be far higher given the numerous accounts of bodies abandoned in the streets and the difficulty locals are having burying the deceased.

"The circumstance is intolerable. Ayman Hassan, a 32-year-old resident, stated, "We fled our house to go to a neighbor's house in Khartoum, fleeing the fighting, but the bombardment follows us everywhere we go.

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