Sudan‘s two-month war is spreading across the country, with the army and the Rapid Support Force (RSF) clashing in several areas on Friday.
Airstrikes and anti-aircraft missile fire hit Omdurman and Khartoum, two of the three cities that make up Sudan’s wider capital, overnight. But the war has escalated in recent days in the cities to the west of the capital, in the fragile regions of Darfur and Kordofan.
A fragile ceasefire broke down in Al Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state, as the two forces clashed in residential areas.
And in El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan and a transport hub between Khartoum and Darfur, where the RSF maintains a significant presence, paramilitary forces clashed with heavily armed central reserve police.
The worst fighting was in West Darfur, where RSF-backed militias razed areas of town and forced a mass exodus, residents and rights monitors said. The town of El Geneina in West Darfur was worst hit by repeated militia attacks.
The United States announced on Thursday that it had suspended the talks, which have so far been the only forum for discussions between the two sides, although they resulted only in a brief, often-violated humanitarian truce agreement.
Fighting has also escalated in recent days between the army and the RSF in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur and one of Sudan’s largest cities. Clashes continued in southern Nyala on Friday, and one resident said civilians had been killed, but could not provide any further details.
A new front in the fighting also threatens to open in South Kordofan, where the rebel SPLM-N controls some areas. Earlier this week, the military accused the forces of violating a long-standing ceasefire agreement.
The fighting has displaced more than 2.5 million, with hundreds of thousands fleeing across borders, including into Chad and Egypt.
It has sparked a humanitarian crisis with NGOs scrambling to provide much-needed medical and food aid.
On Saturday, the medical aid agency Medecins Sans Frontières said its operations had been curtailed by both sides, including denied travel permits.
“MSF supplies were seized while armed groups ransacked our facilities and beat and threatened staff with violence,” the statement said.
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