Blasts were heard again in Sudan’s capital Khartoum as the army rallied civilians to take up arms against a renewed onslaught.

Explosions again rocked Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Monday 3 July 2023 as the army rallied civilians to take up arms against a renewed onslaught by its paramilitary foes. The sound of artillery fire shook the dawn in northwest Khartoum and progressed towards the centre and east of the city, witnesses told AFP. The fighting “began at 4:00 am (0200 GMT) and is still going,” one resident said. The war-torn capital barely saw a few hours of respite after heavy clashes on Sunday between troops loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and those of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The army announced Monday it was ready to “receive and prepare” volunteer fighters, after Burhan last week urged Sudanese “youth and all those able to defend” to join the military. War-weary civilians have largely rejected the call, pleading for an end to the relentless war between Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Later on Monday, witnesses reported the air force targeted an armoured RSF convoy as it wound its way from the country’s south towards Khartoum.

Outside the capital, some of the worst fighting has been in the vast western region of Darfur, where late Sunday RSF forces “attacked the military base” in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state. Since April 15, nearly 3,000 people have been killed in the violence, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. But medics warn the death toll is likely to be much higher, with about two-thirds of health facilities in combat areas still “out of service”. A further 2.2 million people have been displaced within the country, with another 645,000 fleeing across borders, according to the International Organization for Migration.

– Darfur violence –

Darfur is home to a quarter of Sudan’s population and is still scarred by a two-decade war. Residents there, as well as the United Nations, United States and others, say civilians have been targeted and killed for their ethnicity by the RSF and allied Arab militias. The RSF has been accused of intentionally targeting civilians in Darfur, including by shooting people fleeing towards the Chadian border. The paramilitaries have also been identified as the main perpetrators of conflict-related sexual assault by survivors in both Darfur and Khartoum, according to the governmental Combating Violence Against Women and Children Unit.