THOUSANDS of civilians have fled Sudan’s capital and foreign nations are trying to evacuate their citizens, amid a fifth day of fierce fighting.
Witnesses reported people leaving Khartoum in cars and on foot on Wednesday morning, as gunfire and deafening explosions rocked the city.
Meanwhile, officials in Japan and Tanzania say they are considering missions to evacuate their citizens.
The exodus follows Tuesday’s collapsed ceasefire between the warring factions.
The Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had agreed a 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire on Tuesday, but the truce collapsed within minutes of its proposed launch at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT).
A new ceasefire with the same timing was put forward by the RSF on Wednesday. The army said it would abide by the truce – but gunfire can still be heard across the capital.
Smoke can be seen over the area of the army headquarters in the centre of the city, where much of the fighting between rival military factions is centred.
Mohammed Alamin, a journalist based in Khartoum, told BBC Focus on Africa radio that the gunfire hadn’t stopped, despite the supposed ceasefire.
“It’s really horrible – these warring parties are firing randomly everywhere,” he said. “I saw, myself, hundreds of people going outside Khartoum, rushing to travel to the neighbouring states.”
Some civilians did not know what was happening – while others directed their anger at both sides.
“Basically the people think that this war is against them,” Mr Alamin said. “This is what the people told me in the streets.”
He also said that one problem with implementing the ceasefire might be the fragmented forces in the city.
“There is a kind of a disconnection between these troops – they are fighting in different areas, in different places with less communication…,” he said.
The fighting at the moment mostly involves shelling, not heavy air bombardments.
