Heavy gunfire shattered a 24-hour truce in Sudan on Tuesday shortly after it was due to take effect under US pressure on warring military factions to halt fighting that has touched off a humanitarian crisis.
Loud shooting reverberated in the background of live feeds by Arab television news channels in the Khartoum capital region minutes after the agreed 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) onset of the ceasefire. Warplanes were roaring in the skies above Khartoum, a Reuters reporter heard tanks firing shortly after the truce was due to take hold, and a resident told Reuters he heard an air strike being carried out in Omdurman, Khartoum’s sister city on the opposite bank of the Nile river. Several witnesses reported a large army ground force entering the city from the east. The regular army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) issued statements accusing each other of failing to respect the ceasefire. The army’s high command said it would continue operations to secure the capital and other regions. ”We have not received any indications here that there’s been a halt in the fighting,” United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a news briefing in New York.
The conflict between Sudan’s military leader and his deputy on Sudan’s ruling council erupted four days ago, derailing an internationally backed plan for a transition to a civilian democracy four years after the fall of Islamist autocrat Omar al-Bashir to mass protests and two years after a military coup.
The fighting has triggered what the United Nations has described as a humanitarian catastrophe, including the near collapse of the health system. The U.N.’s World Food Programme suspended operations after three of its employees were killed.
Source: thedailystar.net
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
