\n Heavy fighting again rocked Sudan's capital Sunday as tens of thousands have fled the bloody turmoil and a former prime minister warned of the \"nightmare\" risk of a descent into full-scale civil war.\n<\/p>\n
\n Army forces clashed with paramilitaries in downtown Khartoum as deadly hostilities have entered a third week despite the latest ceasefire, which was formally set to expire at the end of Sunday.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"There has been very heavy fighting and loud gunfire every few minutes since the early morning on my street,\" one southern Khartoum resident told AFP by phone.\n<\/p>\n
\n Clashes were reported around the army headquarters in central Khartoum, and the army also carried out airstrikes in the capital's twin city of Omdurman across the Nile River.\n<\/p>\n
\n Foreign nations have scrambled to evacuate thousands of their citizens by air, road and sea since the fighting plunged the poverty-stricken country into deadly turmoil on April 15.\n<\/p>\n
\n Millions of Sudanese have endured crippling shortages of water, food and other basic supplies, while tens of thousands have fled to neighbouring countries, with more on their way.\n<\/p>\n
\n Satellite images showed long bus convoys at the Egyptian border, while the UN said tens of thousands had escaped to Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic.\n<\/p>\n
\n The turmoil could deepen further in the power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).\n<\/p>\n
\n Sudan's former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok warned that the conflict could deteriorate into one of the world's worst civil wars if not stopped early.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"God forbid if Sudan is to reach a point of civil war proper... Syria, Yemen, Libya will be a small play,\" Hamdok told an event in Nairobi. \"I think it would be a nightmare for the world.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n - Risk of famine -\n<\/p>\n
\n The violence has killed at least 528 people and wounded about 4,600, the health ministry said Saturday, but those figures are likely to be incomplete.\n<\/p>\n
\n The fighting has affected 12 out 18 states across Sudan, including the Darfur region, the ministry said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The UN World Food Programme has warned the violence could plunge millions more into hunger in a country where 15 million people already need aid to stave off famine.\n<\/p>\n
\n The warring sides have agreed to multiple truces but none has taken hold, as chaos and lawlessness have gripped Khartoum, a city of five million, and other regions.\n<\/p>\n
\n The latest three-day ceasefire -- due to expire at midnight (2200 GMT) Sunday -- was agreed Thursday after mediation led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the African Union and the United Nations.\n<\/p>\n
\n As the battles have raged regardless, the rival generals have taken aim at each other in the media.\n<\/p>\n
\n Burhan again branded the RSF a militia that aims \"to destroy Sudan\" while Daglo called the army chief \"a traitor\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Sudan was ruled for decades by Islamist-backed strongman Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted by the military in 2019 after mass pro-democracy protests.\n<\/p>\n
\n The coup brought Burhan and Daglo to power, and they seized full control in another coup, in 2021, before turning on each three weeks ago.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Tens of thousands flee -\n<\/p>\n
\n UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged negotiations to end the bloodshed.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"There is no right to go on fighting for power when the country is falling apart,\" he told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television on Saturday.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"My appeal is for everything to be done to support an African-led initiative for peace in Sudan.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Guterres also said on Twitter that \"the UN is scaling up efforts to help people seeking safety in neighbouring countries\".\n<\/p>\n
\n About 75,000 have been displaced by the fighting, the UN said.\n<\/p>\n
\n At least 20,000 have escaped to Chad, 4,000 to South Sudan, 3,500 to Ethiopia and 3,000 to the Central African Republic, it said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The fighting has also triggered a mass exodus of foreigners and international staff.\n<\/p>\n
\n Saudi Arabia said it had taken almost 4,880 people to safety on ships across the Red Sea.\n<\/p>\n
\n A US-organised road convoy arrived in Port Sudan Saturday to join the exodus, the State Department said.\n<\/p>\n
\n And the UK Foreign Office said just under 1,900 Britons had been taken out on 21 flights, following similar mass airlifts by France, Germany and other nations.\n<\/p>\n
\n Fighting, looting and lawlessness have raged in the Darfur region.\n<\/p>\n
\n In West Darfur state, at least 96 people were reported killed in the city of El Geneina, the UN said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"What's happening in Darfur is terrible, the society is falling apart, we see tribes that now try to arm themselves,\" Guterres said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Darfur is still scarred by a war that erupted in 2003 when then Bashir unleashed the Janjaweed militia, mainly recruited from Arab pastoralist tribes, against ethnic-minority rebels.\n<\/p>\n
\n The scorched-earth campaign left at least 300,000 people dead and close to 2.5 million displaced, according to UN figures.\n<\/p>\n
\n Bashir was charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by the International Criminal Court. The Janjaweed later evolved into the RSF, which was formally created in 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Heavy fighting again rocked Sudan's capital Sunday as tens of thousands have fled the bloody turmoil and a former prime minister warned of the \"nightmare\" risk of a descent into full-scale civil war. Army forces clashed with paramilitaries in downtown Khartoum as deadly hostilities have entered a third week despite the latest ceasefire, which was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-116151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n