Conflicts broke out today at Khartoum between rival military groups, which threatens to collapse the fragile ceasefire, which was intended to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and lay the foundations for sustainable peace.

The ceasefire agreement, overseen by Saudi Arabia and the US as well as the warring sides, was reached after five weeks of heavy fighting in Khartoum and other parts of the country, mainly Darfur.

Eyewitnesses said today that they saw black smoke rising in the western suburbs of Khartoum while shelling was heard in the afternoon near a camp in the south of the city. The sound of gunfire could be heard as far as Bahri, one of the three cities built at the confluence of the Blue and White Niles and which together form the capital of Sudan.

Witnesses from Omdurman, the third city, said a fighter jet was shot down. The RSF (Rapid Support Forces) paramilitary group fighting the army has released a video purporting to show this incident, but its content cannot be verified at this time. Earlier, residents said they heard artillery fire near the Wadi Sandidna military base on the outskirts of Omdurman.