Fighting resumes in Sudan as another cease-fire fails

KHARTOUM, Sudan

A 72-hour truce has fallen through in Sudan as clashes continued between the country's army and a paramilitary group, a local doctors association announced on Saturday.

Hospitals continue to be targeted in the conflict as both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) failed to fulfill their commitments under the cease-fire, said the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD).

An Anadolu correspondent on the ground said the fighting had spread to Bahri and Omdurman, cities adjacent to the capital Khartoum, where the current conflict broke out on April 15, the CCSD added, noting that clashes had also taken place around the army headquarters and presidential palace.

Both sides accused each other of violating the truce, with the army claiming that the RSF were pushing more forces to Khartoum, while the paramilitary group said the SAF had attacked its forces at different locations.

Meanwhile, the evacuation process of foreign diplomats began as the two warring parties expressed willingness to open the airports.

The SAF said in a statement on Facebook that army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan had received requests from different countries to allow the evacuation of their respective nationals.

"We are waiting for the process to begin in the coming hours as US, UK, France, and China will provide military planes for the evacuation from Khartoum," the statement said.

It added that the Saudi diplomatic mission was the first nation to have its citizens evacuated through Port Sudan, adding that Jordan would also use the same route.