Heavy gunfire quickly shatters Sudan truce
- The regular army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces accused each other of failing to respect the US-brokered ceasefire
- The violence risks drawing in actors from Sudan’s neighbourhood and could play into competition for regional influence between Russia and the US
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 6pm onset of the ceasefire.
Warplanes were roaring in the skies above Khartoum, a Reuters reporter heard tanks firing soon 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.
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“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.
