Photos: Fighting continues in Sudan’s capital despite ceasefire

Witnesses in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, reported artillery fire, fighter jet flights over the city and ongoing street fighting in some areas as a week-long ceasefire got off to a rocky start.

Heavy bombing was heard in eastern Khartoum and a resident shared a photo of thick black smoke rising into the sky. In Omdurman and Khartoum North, Khartoum’s sister cities, people said they heard sounds of small arms firing.

After five weeks of fierce fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the warring parties agreed a seven-day truce starting at 21:45 (19:45 GMT) on Monday to allow the delivery of aid and people escape.

In the hours before the ceasefire came into effect, the Sudanese army carried out heavy airstrikes throughout Khartoum against its paramilitary rivals.

The ceasefire includes for the first time a monitoring mechanism involving the military and the RSF, as well as representatives from Saudi Arabia and the United States, who brokered the agreement after talks in Jeddah.

Shortly before the ceasefire came into effect, RSF released an audio message from its commander – Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti” – thanking Saudi Arabia and the US, but urging his men to victory. “We will not withdraw until we have ended this coup,” he said.

Both sides accused each other of an attempted coup at the start of the conflict on April 15.

The ceasefire has raised hopes of a pause in a war that has driven nearly 1.1 million people from their homes, including more than 250,000 who have fled to neighboring countries, threatening to destabilize an unstable region.