The two generals vying for control over the vast African nation are also vying for acceptance by foreign powers, which have expressed support for Sudanese seeking a transition to civilian rule

Sudan’s top general on Friday declared the military’s commitment to a civilian-led government, an apparent bid for international support even as his forces battle a rival paramilitary group in brutal fighting that has derailed hopes for the country’s democratic transition.

In his first speech since the conflict engulfed Sudan nearly a week ago, army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan pledged the military would prevail and secure the vast African nation’s “safe transition to civilian rule.” But for many Sudanese, Burhan’s claim rang hollow 18 months after he joined forces with his current rival to seize power in a coup that cast aside Sudan’s pro-democracy forces.

Burhan’s announcement came on the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan and its month of fasting. The holiday — typically filled with prayer, celebration and feasting — was a somber one in Sudan, as gunshots rang out across the capital of Khartoum and heavy smoke billowed over the skyline.

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Rather than out in the open, mosques held mass morning prayers inside to protect worshippers from the intensified fighting. The violence so far has killed 413 people and wounded 3,551, according to the latest toll from the World Health Organization. That includes at least nine children killed and 50 wounded in the fighting, said the U.N. children’s fund.

“There is no safe place anymore in Khartoum,” said Dallia Abdelmoniem, a 37-year-old baker who fled the Sudanese capital with her family on Thursday, after a rocket sliced through her roof. The road to the city’s outskirts was littered with dead bodies. Abdelmoniem covered the eyes of her nieces and nephews.

“Our number one priority is just to stay alive,” she said from her new shelter outside the city, where she could still hear the howl of artillery and gunfire Friday.

“Instead of waking up to the call to prayer, people in Khartoum again woke up to heavy fighting,” Norway’s ambassador to Sudan, Endre Stiansen wrote in an Eid al-Fitr message on Twitter. “Can any hell be more horrible than this?”