Sudanese military makes gains in the capital as paramilitaries retain key positions.
Sudan’s military captured a major bridge connecting the east of the capital Khartoum to the south, days after it reclaimed control of its northern part from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
As the conflict in Sudan nears the two-year mark, the army has in recent weeks won back large swaths of the capital and its surrounding areas from the paramilitary group.
RSF still controls some key positions, including the central market, the presidential palace, and some of the southern and western residential districts.
It also holds parts of the central region of Kordofan, most of the western region of Darfur, and is besieging the army and its allies in the city of el-Fashir, the capital of north Darfur.
Residents and medics on Friday said the RSF attacked the famine-stricken Zamzam displacement camp, south of el-Fashir, as the group attempted to tighten its grip on the Darfur stronghold.
An estimated 11.4 million civilians have been forced from their homes since the conflict began in April 2023. Three million are refugees in neighbouring countries, while more than eight million are internally displaced.
“Sudan’s regional neighbours say they want the conflict to end,” Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall said, reporting from Sudan’s Sennar. “Peace efforts were made in Jeddah, Cairo, Addis Ababa, Geneva and elsewhere. But all have so far failed.
“Both the RSF and the army say they’re ready to talk but with caveats and conditions unacceptable to the other side. Both still believe they can achieve total victory on the battlefield.”
‘Tremendous destruction and bloodshed’
Speaking on Friday at a high-level humanitarian conference in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the situation in Sudan as a catastrophe on a “staggering scale and brutality”.
“It is a crisis that demands sustained and urgent attention,” he told participants, stressing the need to stop the movement of arms and ammunition into the country.
“This flow is enabling the continuation of tremendous civilian destruction and bloodshed,” Guterres added.
Nearly 25 million people are suffering from “acute” levels of hunger, according to UN figures, and delivering aid requires a ceasefire to be put in place.
Guterres called on world leaders to use their influence for peace and boost humanitarian aid efforts ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.
“We must do more – and do more now – to help the people of Sudan out of this nightmare.”