Parts of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, were rocked by air strikes and anti-aircraft fire on Wednesday, residents said, despite both warring military factions declaring a truce to mark the Eid al-Adha holiday in mid-April.
The war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces led to a major humanitarian crisis and displaced about 2.8 million people, of whom nearly 650,000 fled to neighboring countries.
The three cities that make up the capital, Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman, have witnessed violent clashes and looting for more than 10 weeks, and the conflict has also led to the return of ethnically motivated killings in the Darfur region in the west of the country.
Residents and news reports said fighting raged in Omdurman on Wednesday afternoon. The Darfur Bar Association, an activist group that monitors the conflict, said the RSF had carried out attacks in the Manwashi area of South Darfur state twice in the past five days.
The United Nations Mission in Sudan urged the two parties to abide by the truce that we announced.
The mission said in a statement that the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias remained responsible for acts of violence, rape and looting in areas they control, and for ethnically motivated violence in Darfur, while the army remained responsible for attacks and aerial bombardment of residential areas.
“These two parties must be reminded that the world is watching and accountability will be sought for crimes committed in a time of war,” the statement said.
The conflict erupted amid disagreements over which powers the two sides would retain under an internationally backed plan for a transition to civilian rule.