Renewed clashes and explosions in the Sudanese capital Khartoum hours after the start of a new truce this morning between the army and the Rapid Support Forces following US-Saudi mediation, as the evacuation of nationals of many countries of the world from Sudan by land and sea accelerates.

Al Jazeera's correspondent in Sudan reported renewed hearing heavy gunfire and explosions in the vicinity of the presidential palace in Khartoum, after a new truce between the two sides of the fighting took effect for 3 days, 10 days after the outbreak of battles between the army and the Rapid Support.

The correspondent said that explosions, shell sounds and aircraft overflights were heard in the airspace of Omdurman, northwest of Khartoum, and the correspondent of Al Jazeera said that limited violations of the truce were recorded in the Sudanese capital.

The correspondent pointed to clashes that broke out between the army and the Rapid Support in the areas of Al-Kadro and Al-Halfaya in Khartoum North, north of the capital, and an eyewitness published a video clip showing a warplane and the sounds of clashes and heavy gunfire.

Videos posted by Sudanese activists showed the effects of a rocket that fell on the Rumi Medical Center in the city of Omdurman on Tuesday, causing a number of injuries.

Narrative of the two parties

The army accused the RSF of violating the truce by targeting the Republican Palace with artillery, and the armed forces said they monitored the movements of columns and military reinforcements of the support forces heading from western Sudan to Khartoum to carry out large-scale operations.

The Sudanese army said that despite its commitment to the truce, it would retain its full right to deal with violations and attempts by the Rapid Support Forces to exploit the truce to salvage what it described as its deteriorating field situation.

The RSF accused the army of violating the ceasefire, saying it threatened citizens, residents and foreigners. The RSF spokesman said army planes were still flying over Khartoum, a breach of the truce.

The Rapid Support renewed its commitment to the truce and all its conditions in order to open humanitarian corridors for civilians and foreign nationals, and warned against indiscriminate artillery shelling by the army, stressing that it endangers the lives of citizens and residents and hinders the truce.

Sudan's Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Jibril Ibrahim expressed hope that the truce would develop a permanent ceasefire and start an inclusive political process, as well as use the truce to bury bodies, evacuate the wounded and open safe passages.

The Government of North Darfur declared a state of emergency in conjunction with a curfew from ten in the evening until five in the morning.

Sudanese Facebook accounts on Tuesday posted scenes of continued clashes between army forces and the Rapid Support Forces in the city of El Geneina in West Darfur state.

The city of El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state (southwest of Khartoum), has witnessed a wave of clashes between the army and the Rapid Support.

Humanitarian situation

The representative of the World Health Organization in Sudan, Nima Abed, said that 459 people have been counted dead in the ongoing battles in Sudan, adding that estimates indicate that the real number is much higher.

The Sudanese Medical Syndicate stated that the number of deaths since the beginning of the clashes rose to 291, while 1699,13 injuries were recorded among civilians, and the syndicate added that 19 hospitals were bombed in the clashes, and that <> hospitals were subjected to forced eviction.

The syndicate added that there are many injuries and deaths that are not included in this inventory, and it was unable to reach hospitals due to the difficulty of movement and the deterioration of the security situation in the country.


At a meeting in Geneva, representatives of UN aid agencies announced that 15 million Sudanese needed urgent humanitarian support, and the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs said shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel were worsening, especially in Khartoum.

Tens of thousands – including Sudanese and citizens from neighbouring countries – have fled in recent days to Egypt, Chad and South Sudan, despite unrest and dire living conditions.

Al Jazeera correspondent pointed out that the movement of citizens in the capital is cautious. He added that the displacement movement he monitored is the largest since the outbreak of the crisis 11 days ago, pointing to a 10-fold increase in bus ticket prices.

Evacuations

Evacuations of foreign diplomats from Sudan are accelerating, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying his country had evacuated 538 people, including 209 Frenchmen.

While chairing a meeting of the Security and Defense Council in Paris, Macron announced that a French soldier was injured during the evacuations, stressing that his condition is stable.

Pakistan's foreign ministry reported the evacuation of 700 of its citizens, while Ukraine announced the evacuation of a total of 138 citizens, including 87 of its nationals, the majority of whom were aviation experts including pilots, technicians and their family members, as well as citizens from Georgia and Peru.

In London, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that his country began – on Tuesday – to operate evacuation flights for British passport holders from Sudan on British Air Force planes, and British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said that his country placed elements of the Royal Navy in Port Sudan to secure the area.

The German Foreign and Defense Ministries said in a joint statement on Tuesday that Berlin will organize its last evacuation flight from Sudan to Jordan this evening, adding that partner countries will evacuate the remaining German citizens in Sudan in the coming days.

A spokesman for the German army confirmed the evacuation of about 100 others on board the fifth flight by an army tanker, explaining that the plane landed in Jordan.

China's Foreign Ministry announced the evacuation of most Chinese citizens from Sudan to border ports in neighboring countries, and said it had not received any reports of Chinese casualties in Sudan so far.

On Tuesday morning, the first Algerian military plane took off from Port Sudan airport in northeastern Sudan, carrying Algerian nationals, and sources told Al Jazeera that the plane headed to Boufarik military airport in Algeria.

The United Nations said yesterday that it had decided to keep a number of its staff in Sudan, led by Volker Perthes, the special envoy of the Secretary-General.