APA-Khartoum (Sudan) Hostilities have resumed in Sudan’s capital Khartoum after a brief lull in the fighting thanks to a short-lived internationally-brokered truce.
There were loud explosions accompanied by bursts of heavy automatic gunfire in and around the city on Wednesday as forces loyal to junta head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan went on the offensive against fighters of the renegade Rapid Special Forces led by his rival Mohamed Hamden Dagalo.
There are unconfirmed reports of a jailbreak in the course of the latest flareup.
Ahmed Haroun, a jailed politician declared wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged crimes against humanity is reportedly at large after breaking out of the Kober prison in Khartoum.
A statement on Tuesday quoted Haroun as saying he and other inmates had been released by prison guards for their own safety in view of the deteriorating security situation in Sudan but did not give his location.
Haroun who had vowed to give himself up once the situation returns to normalcy, faces 20 counts including for alleged rape, murder, torture and persecution in Darfur as Sudan’s Interior minister in the early 2000s.
Arrested and detained since Omar al-Bashir lost power in 2019, he denies all the charges against him.
Meanwhile, there are reports that both sides are yet to be fully committed to the truce, blaming each other of ‘provocative acts’.
The truce was supposed to come into force on Monday evening but there have been reports of sporadic gunfights inside Khartoum and the nearby twin city of Omdurman.
Sources say both sides are convinced that they are capable of a military victory.
The lull in the fighting has allowed tens of thousands of people including Sudanese and non-Sudanese to be evacuated.
At least some 500 people have died in more than tens days of clashes between Burhan and Dagalo’s men in an apparent power struggle.
Three previous attempt at a truce had been disregarded by the belligerents including on Friday when Muslims in Sudan marked the end of the holy month of fasting or Ramadan.
Prior to the armed clashes, tension has been brewing between the two top generals over the future of the transition to civilian rule and the leadership of the RSF.
Sudan has been under military rule for decades and still faces armed miitias in the troubled region of Darfur.