Khartoum: Early on Friday, the warring parties in Sudan clashed once more in Khartoum, with reports of shelling and bombing in several neighbourhoods. They did so in defiance of international calls for a Ramadan cease-fire.

As explosions and gunfire resounded in the capital Khartoum for the sixth consecutive night, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken both called separately for a cease-fire of "at least" three days to commemorate Eid Al-Fitr in the largely Muslim nation.

The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors said in a statement that "on the eve of Eid Al-Fitr, several areas of Khartoum were bombed and are still exposed to shelling and clashes between the armed forces and the RSF."

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All citizens are urged to use caution, stay inside, lock their doors and windows, and lie down. We also demand that these forces act responsibly and stop fighting right away to save the lives of the defenceless.

With the majority of its five million residents taking refuge at home without access to food, water, or electricity, the capital has taken the brunt of some of the fiercest fighting.
Residents in southern Khartoum have had trouble sleeping for almost a week and have been startled awake by "the roaring sound of fighter jets and air strikes," according to Nazek Abdalla, 38.

Abdalla continued, "We locked our doors and windows in the hopes that no stray bullets would strike our building. "We would like the fighting to cease during the Eid celebrations. But we already know that won't happen.

According to a statement released by his spokesperson on Friday, Blinken "condemned the indiscriminate fighting" in separate conversations with both Burhan and Daglo. He urged both military leaders to enforce a nationwide cease-fire and maintain it at least until the conclusion of Eid Al-Fitr, Sunday, April 23, according to the statement.

In order to deliver an Eid address as in previous years, Burhan made his first television appearance since hostilities started on Friday as battles raged.
He made no mention of a ceasefire while seated behind a desk, surrounded by two Sudanese flags and wearing a military uniform. This year for Eid, our nation is suffering: chaos, desolation, and the sound of gunfire have replaced happiness, he said.

"We anticipate emerging from this experience more unified, as a single army and people working towards a civilian power. Gunfire continued Thursday night, with columns of black smoke rising from buildings near the army headquarters and Khartoum International Airport after two cease-fires in two days failed to hold.

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Many chose to stay inside, but others ventured outside in spite of the dangers "to protect themselves and their families," according to architect Tagreed Abdi. Witnesses reported hearing loud explosions outside of Khartoum in the North Kordofan state's capital city of Obeid.

One witness in Obeid said, "In some parts of the town, it smells like death. In Khartoum, the western Darfur region, and other states, "almost 330 people have died and almost 3,200 more" have been injured, according to Ahmed Al-Mandhari of the World Health Organisation.

At least nine children have reportedly died as a result of the fighting, according to UNICEF, the UN agency for children. In a nation where 15 million people, or one-third of the population, already experience food insecurity, the World Food Programme (WFP) issued a warning that the violence could cause millions more to go hungry.

After the murder of three WFP employees on Saturday, it has halted operations in Sudan. The RSF's intended integration into the regular army, a crucial requirement for a final agreement intended to restore Sudan's democratic transition, was at the centre of Burhan and Daglo's bitter disagreement.

RSF fighters in pickup trucks and armoured cars have taken over the streets around Khartoum and elsewhere. A lot of people have set up checkpoints to search vehicles carrying civilians who are trying to flee the most dangerous battle zones to safer areas in Khartoum and elsewhere.

The state of the populace is deteriorating; by Tuesday, thousands had left the capital, with many claiming that the streets were littered with corpses. Medical professionals have issued a dire warning, particularly in Khartoum, where numerous hospitals are said to have been caught in the crossfire. The fighting has "out of service" up to 70% of the hospitals in Khartoum and the surrounding states, according to the doctors' union.

Since many injured people can't get to hospitals, it has been warned that the death toll will likely be much higher than reported.

The US Defence Department announced on Thursday that it was deploying forces "nearby in the region" in an effort to "secure and possibly facilitate the departure of US Embassy personnel from Sudan," putting several nations' evacuation plans on hold.

Their arrival was verified when the Sudanese army reported that 177 Egyptian soldiers had been evacuated to Egypt from the northern city of Meroe. Later, the RSF claimed to have given the Sudanese Red Cross another 27 Egyptian soldiers, and Cairo verified their arrival at the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum.

The mediation for the Egyptians held by the RSF, according to the United Arab Emirates, was "led" by them.

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Together, Burhan and Daglo overthrew Omar Al-Bashir's autocratic regime in April 2019 in response to widespread demonstrations against his three decades of tyrannical rule.

An internationally supported transition to democracy was halted in October 2021 when they joined forces once more to overthrow the civilian government that had been put in place after Bashir's overthrow.