Khartoum, Sudan’s war-torn capital, was without telecommunications for several hours today as fierce fighting between the army and paramilitary forces continued.

Internet and mobile phone connections, essential for gathering information and supplies during the nearly three months of war, were cut, while “violent clashes” raged in many parts of the city, according to accounts given by landline to AFP.

The cause of the outage was not immediately known. Some mobile phone networks were restored around 11:00 (local time, 12:00 Greek time) according to residents.

During the morning, clouds of black smoke rose near the army headquarters in the center of the city, as well as in the south.

Eyewitnesses and witnesses in North Khartoum, the northeastern suburb of the Sudanese capital, spoke of “clashes with all kinds of weapons.”

And in Omdurman, residents reported fighter jets and drones flying over the northern suburb.

Since April 15, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been fighting against General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

According to the UN, almost one and a half million residents have already left Khartoum. Millions have been holed up in their homes as they fear being caught in the crossfire in the violent fighting in densely populated areas or attacked on the street. They often turned to the Internet to meet their basic needs, implementing crowdfunding initiatives to find ways to evacuate residents and provide food and medicine.

Due to the fighting in Sudan, mainly in Khartoum but also in the Darfur region, almost 3,000 people have lost their lives, according to the NGO Acled, while the displaced and refugees exceed three million, according to the UN.