Airstrikes, artillery fire and explosions rocked Khartoum again on Saturday as bloody clashes between the army and paramilitaries in Sudan entered their eighth week and forced volunteers to bury 180 unidentified bodies.

The sound of clashes can be heard in its northern suburbs Khartoum and shells rained down on the southern part of the capital, causing many civilian casualties, residents said.

The army under the general Abdel Fatah al Burhan targeted with aircraft positions of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of the general Mohammed Hamdan Daglowhich responded with anti-aircraft fire.

Since April 15, when the bloody war between the two generals broke out, aid workers and volunteers have been facing, as they complain, difficulties in collecting the bodies due to the security situation.

The Sudanese Red Crescent said in a statement yesterday that 180 unidentified bodies were buried: 102 in southern Khartoum and 78 in Darfur.

The conflict has already claimed the lives of more than 1,800 people, while more than a million have been displaced.

Under pressure from the US and Saudi Arabia, the two sides pledged three weeks ago to “protect civilians” and then signed two cease-fires that were not kept.

On Wednesday, the army withdrew from negotiations in Jeddah aimed at creating safe corridors for civilians and humanitarian aid. The next day, the US and Saudi Arabia announced that the talks were officially suspended.

Trapped at the entrance to the city

At the same time, the African Union and Igad, the East African regional bloc in which the country participates, said they were ready to work on a road map for Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Yesterday General Daglo’s envoy met with Kenyan President William Ruto in Nairobi, as the latter said on Twitter.

Despite the US announcement of sanctions against the military and paramilitaries, clashes with heavy weapons continue to claim daily casualties, looting continues and the number of displaced people continues to grow.

“Security forces must protect and not endanger their fellow citizens,” the US embassy in Khartoum said in a statement, referring to both sides.

In Sudan’s capital, residents have been left without running water and faced with a lack of liquidity and power outages.

Bus drivers plying routes from Khartoum to the province said they were “trapped by the authorities at the entrance to the capital” of more than 5 million residents.

Experts believe that the army is preparing to launch a massive attack, after the announcement of the redeployment of its troops in the capital. In the meantime, the DTY continue to set up headquarters in hospitals or homes of civilians.