Thousands flee Khartoum as Sudan ceasefire fails to hold

Thousands of residents have fled Khartoum as fighting continued across the city for a fifth day and many countries began preparations to evacuate their citizens from Sudan.

Attempts to resurrect a US-brokered ceasefire between the army and paramilitary forces that failed to hold on Tuesday did not reassure many inhabitants of the capital, which suffered some of the most intense clashes yet seen as rival factions battled for control of the airport, defence headquarters and other key strategic sites.

Senior UN management have told staff in the most dangerous locations that they must make their own decisions about how to remain safe, provoking anger. Some UN and other aid workers have been targeted with sexual violence, officials said.

Two-thirds of civilian fatalities were recorded outside Khartoum, the new statistics showed, indicating how much of the fighting was occurring in remote regions.

In Nyala, in the restive South Darfur state, six people died and 63 were wounded as a main food market was set on fire and the offices of aid agencies looted.

Tensions remained high in the city on Wednesday night, local activists said.

In al-Fashir, in North Darfur, nine people died and 36 were injured, while in Zalingei, in Central Darfur, five people died and 60 were wounded.

There were also reports of airstrikes and fighting around the international airport at the town of Merowe, a well-known archaeological site and commercial centre 270 miles (440km) north of Khartoum.

Across Sudan, prices of staples such as sugar, milk, flour and oil are increasing, aggravating an acute economic crisis. Aid workers in al-Qadarif said long-life items such as dehydrated milk had disappeared from shelves. UN agencies said many of their programmes across the vast country, already in a precarious humanitarian situation, had been suspended.

Alawya al-Tayeb, 33, on her way out of the capital, said she had tried to shield her children from the sight of dead bodies on the streets as the family had left the capital.

The conflict between the military and the RSF risks drawing in other powers keen to win influence and access to precious resources in Sudan, analysts fear.