Ceasefire agreed as air strikes pummel Sudanese capital, killing 17

The war has displaced 2.2 million Sudanese and sent Darfur region into a "humanitarian crisis

DUBAI/CAIRO (Reuters) – Air strikes killed civilians and pummelled multiple parts of the Sudanese capital on Saturday, residents said, as warring military factions agreed to another ceasefire in a series that have failed to stop the violence.

Fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is entering its third month with neither side gaining a clear advantage.

The war has displaced 2.2 million Sudanese and sent the war-weary Darfur region into a "humanitarian calamity," the United Nations has said. It has killed more than 3,000 people and injured more than 6,000, Sudan's health minister said.

Late on Saturday, the United States and Saudi Arabia said the two factions had agreed to a new 72-hour ceasefire that would begin on Sunday morning. Previous truces have not managed to bring fighting to a complete halt.

The army has the advantage of air power in Khartoum and its neighbouring cities Omdurman and Bahri, while the RSF has embedded itself in residential neighbourhoods. On Friday and Saturday the army appeared to ramp up air strikes, hitting several residential neighbourhoods.

In a speech posted by the army on Friday, top general Yassir Al-Atta warned people to stay away from homes the RSF had occupied. "Because at this point, we will attack them anywhere," he said to cheers. "Between us and these rebels are bullets," he said, appearing to dismiss mediation attempts.

The Khartoum health ministry confirmed a report by local volunteers on Saturday that 17 people including five children were killed in the Mayo area of southern Khartoum and 25 homes destroyed.

The strike was the latest in a series of air and artillery attacks on the poor and densely populated district of the city where most residents are unable to afford the cost of leaving.

AIR STRIKES

Late on Friday, the local resistance committee said 13 people had been killed by shelling in al-Lammab in western Khartoum, calling the neighbourhood an "operations zone". Residents reported air strikes elsewhere in southern and western Khartoum into the afternoon.

The RSF on Saturday said it brought down an army warplane in the Nile, west of Khartoum.

Plumes of smoke could be seen rising near fuel depots in Southern Khartoum, a resident said and video shared with Reuters showed.

Air strikes in central and southern Omdurman continued from Friday into Saturday, impacting homes and killing one person, according to the local committee in the Beit al-Mal neighbourhood.

Residents said three members of a family were killed in the Sharq el-Nil district after an air strike on Friday.

In El-Geneina, in West Darfur, more than 270,000 have fled across the border to Chad, after more than 1,000 people were killed by attacks that residents and the United States have blamed on the RSF and allied militias.

A Chadian military source and a local official in Adre, Chad, where many of those fleeing have sought refuge, denied reports that Chadian soldiers had clashed with the RSF.

Chadian president General Mahamat Idriss Deby visited the area to witness the unfolding humanitarian crisis there and ensure the closure of the border, the presidency said.

Within Khartoum, the war has cut off the millions who remain from electricity, water, and access to healthcare, and residents have had to ration food. They report widespread looting.