Air strikes hit the outskirts of Sudan's capital Khartoum overnight and Saturday morning, starting the sixth week of a conflict that has plunged civilians into a humanitarian crisis and displaced more than a million people.

Fighting between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to a breakdown in law and order, with widespread looting for which both sides blame.

Stocks of food, cash and necessities are rapidly declining.

Witnesses described airstrikes in southern Omdurman and North Bahri, two cities opposite Khartoum on the other side of the Nile.

Witnesses said some of the strikes took place near the Omdurman Radio and Television Broadcasting Corporation.

Heavy bombardment

Sanaa Hassan, 33, who lives in Omdurman's Salha district, told Reuters by phone: "We were subjected to heavy artillery shelling in Salhiya, south of Omdurman, at dawn today, the whole house was shaking, it was a terrifying thing, the whole family was lying under the bed, what is happening is a nightmare."

The RSF is stationed in residential neighborhoods, which exposes them to near-constant air strikes from army forces.

Witnesses in Khartoum said the situation was relatively calm despite sporadic gunshots being heard.

The conflict, which erupted on April 15, has displaced nearly 1.1 million internally or fled to neighbouring countries.

The World Health Organization said it had caused some 705 deaths and at least 5287,<> injuries.

Humanitarian truce

Both sides in the conflict have accused each other of violating several recent ceasefire agreements in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

But sources in the Saudi Foreign Ministry said the parties to the conflict in Sudan would sign a 10-day humanitarian truce today, which could be extended.

Ground fighting has erupted again in recent days in the cities of Nyala and Zalingei in Darfur state.

Both sides in the conflict traded accusations in statements on Friday about the outbreak of fighting in Nyala, one of the country's largest cities where relative calm prevailed for weeks thanks to a locally brokered truce.


Clashes and deaths

A local activist told Reuters there were sporadic gunfire clashes near the city's main market near the army headquarters on Saturday morning. Activists said nearly 30 people had died in the previous two days of fighting.

The conflict in Khartoum erupted after disagreements over plans to integrate the RSF into the army and the future chain of command under an internationally backed deal for Sudan's transition to democracy.

Army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Friday dismissed RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo as deputy chairman of the ruling sovereign council they had commanded.

Burhan appointed Malik Agar, a former leader of an armed group, to succeed Hemedti.

Aqar said in a statement on Saturday that he had accepted the post to help bring peace and support the next planting season, the failure of which would lead to widespread hunger.

His message to the army is that "there is no alternative to peace except peace, and there is no way to peace except through dialogue", he said. "I also send my message to the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces: There is no alternative to the stability of Sudan except through one professional and unified army," he said, but it was not yet clear how much his speech would affect both sides.

Hunger and chaos

USAID late on Friday announced more than $100 million in support for Sudan and countries receiving fleeing Sudanese, including much-needed food and medical assistance.

The agency's director, Samantha Power, said: "It is difficult to describe the scale of the suffering that is happening now in Sudan."

Several churches have been looted in Khartoum, including the archdiocese of the Virgin Mary in central Khartoum, a church official said.

The official said gunmen gave the bishop a week to evacuate the archdiocese, after which they looted it and used it as their headquarters.

Qatar said in a statement that its embassy had joined the list of embassies looted.