Violence continues to escalate in Sudan as clashes between militia groups and civilians have renewed in West Darfur state. While a 72-hour ceasefire has been agreed upon, fighting between Arab militias and civilians in the capital city of El Geneina continues. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the city is in chaos, with reports of clashes, looting and burning of houses, and reports of civilians being killed and displaced by the violence. Hospitals, markets, and several humanitarian organizations' premises have reportedly been looted as well. Meanwhile, in the capital city of Khartoum, fighting between the armed forces and paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF), can still be heard despite the ceasefire. Witnesses report hearing heavy gunfire near the Presidential Palace in the city center, while warplanes overhead in the Kafouri area north of Khartoum were fired upon by anti-aircraft missiles.
The situation in West Darfur is particularly worrisome, with none of the city's hospitals functional according to Dr. Safa Aboush, a member of the Sudan Doctors Union. Aboush accuses the RSF and Janjaweed militia of looting and violating neighborhoods. The Sudan Doctors Union warns of war crimes in West Darfur, blaming the absence of justice and the proliferation of armed militias for the continuing violence. The two warring generals, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, have played key roles in the counterinsurgency against rebels in the region's civil war that began in 2003.
As the conflict stretches into a second week, foreign governments continue to evacuate their citizens, while many Sudanese people remain trapped without electricity, food, or water, desperately seeking a way to escape. The situation is further worsened by the shortage of vital water supplies and food, and reports of widespread looting and hospitals being targeted. The Sudan Doctors Union reports that 69% of hospitals in areas of fighting, including the capital Khartoum and adjacent cities, are not operational. Out of 86 hospitals, only 26 are fully or partially operating, and these are under threat of closure due to a lack of medical staff, medical supplies, and water and electricity. The UN's humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, Andou Dieng, has expressed extreme worry about the availability of food, particularly in Darfur, and has asked that humanitarian corridors be opened.