No respite in Sudan as truce falls apart, rivals battle

Sudan residents in the capital other cities have been hiding in their homes, caught in the crossfire as rival forces pounded residential areas with artillery and airstrikes and engaged in gunbattles outside

Fighting between forces loyal to rival generals raged in Sudan for a fifth day on April 19 after an internationally brokered truce quickly fell apart. The U.N. said the death toll had risen to at least 270 since the violence erupted over the weekend.

Sustained gunfire, artillery attacks and airstrikes rocked the capital Khartoum and the city of Omdurman across the Nile River. Residents reported clashes around the military headquarters and near the international airport.

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“The battles intensified in the morning after sporadic gunfire over the night,” said Tahani Abass, a prominent rights advocate who lives close to the military headquarters.

A 24-hour cease-fire was to have been in effect from sundown Tuesday to sundown Wednesday, with the warring sides pledging publicly to abide by it after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to both generals. Their failure to pause fighting for even a day, despite high-level diplomatic pressure, suggests they remain bent on pursuing a military victory and raises the potential for a prolonged conflict.

Sudanese in the capital and in other cities have been hiding in their homes, caught in the crossfire as rival forces pounded residential areas with artillery and airstrikes and engaged in gunbattles outside.

The director-general of the U.N.'s World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said at least 270 people have been killed and more than 2,600 wounded since fighting began Saturday, without offering a breakdown of civilians and combatants killed. The Sudan Doctors' Syndicate, which monitors casualties, said Tuesday that at least 174 civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded,