A burned vehicle in Khartoum, Sudan April 26, 2023 (Reuters)

Fighting between Sudan's army and paramilitaries reached its third week on Saturday, despite a renewed ceasefire, as warplanes on bombing flights drew intense anti-aircraft fire over Khartoum.

Sudan has sunk into chaos since the clashes erupted on April 15 between forces of rival generals -- General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan's Sudanese Armed Forces and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo's Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Al-Burhan and Dagalo have agreed to multiple fragile truces since the start of the fighting, with each side blaming the other for violating them.

Following mediation by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the African Union, and the United Nations to achieve a longer-lasting ceasefire, the most recent three-day ceasefire was reached on Thursday.

"We woke up once again to the sound of fighter jets and anti-aircraft weapons blasting all over our neighborhood," a witness in southern Khartoum said, as quoted by AFP.

Another eyewitness reported that fighting had been going on all morning, most notably around the state broadcaster's headquarters in the capital's twin city of Omdurman.

Despite food and water supplies falling to dangerously low levels and a shortage of energy, most residents of Khartoum, which is home to five million people, have taken refuge at home.

War of words alongside ongoing battles

As battles intensified on the ground, the two rival generals took aim at each other in the media, with Al-Burhan identifying the RSF as a militia that aims "to destroy Sudan" in an interview for US-based TV channel Alhurra.

He also added "mercenaries" were pouring over the border from Chad, Central African Republic, and Niger to fuel the chaos.

In response, Dagalo slammed the army chief in an interview for the BBC, saying he was "not trustworthy" and a "traitor".

The clashes have so far killed at least 512 people and wounded 4,193, as per the Health Ministry, with the death toll feared to be much higher.

On its account, Sudan Doctors Union reported that the clashes have so far killed 411 people and injured 2023.

According to the UN, around 75,000 people have been internally displaced as a result of the fighting in Khartoum, the states of Blue Nile and North Kordofan, as well as the western area of Darfur.

While foreign nations have carried out mass evacuations of their citizens, tens of thousands of Sudanese have fled to neighboring nations like Egypt, Ethiopia, Chad, and South Sudan.

On Saturday, a ferry with around 1,900 evacuees arrived at King Faisal Naval base in Jeddah after crossing the Red Sea from Port Sudan, in the latest sea evacuation to the Kingdom.

Britain said it would end its evacuation flights on Saturday, after airlifting more than 1,500 people this week.

The UN said Friday its last international staff had been evacuated from Darfur.

The World Food Programme has said the violence could plunge millions more into hunger in a country where 15 million people -- one-third of the population -- already need aid to stave off famine.

Fighting renewed in West Darfur’s capital city El Geneina amid reports of several deaths and shortages of vital water and food supplies, in addition to widespread destruction.

"What's happening in Darfur is terrible, the society is falling apart, we see tribes that now try to arm themselves," said Guterres.

At least 96 people were reported to have been killed in the city since Monday, as per UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.

"The current fighting has forced us to stop almost all of our activities in West Darfur," said Sylvain Perron, MSF's deputy operations manager for Sudan.

"We are incredibly worried about the impact this violence is having on people who have already lived through waves of violence in the previous years," Perron said.

The United Nations humanitarian office OCHA reported that El Geneina was plunging into chaos with “clashes, looting and burning of houses."

“Markets have reportedly been looted, as well as several humanitarian organizations’ premises. Most of the health centers are not functioning,” OCHA added.

Earlier, Sudan Doctors Union warned that the city’s hospitals are out of service in the area of the clashes.

El Geneina is one of the biggest cities in Sudan, and it is situated in the country's far west. With a distance of 1,200 km from Khartoum, 350 km from El Fasher, and 27 km from Chad, it serves as the state capital of West Darfur and the gateway to Dar es Salaam.