Residents of Sudan’s capital say parts of Khartoum feel like a ghost town, in stark contrast to the joyful mood usually seen during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
After a week of fighting between two factions of the country’s military leadership at least 400 people have been killed.
Witnesses say bombing, shelling and gunfire continue in Khartoum.
It means a three-day truce called by the UN, US and others has failed.
A Sudanese employee of the UN’s International Organization for Migration has been killed in crossfire in El Obeid, some 430km (270 miles) south-west of Khartoum, the agency says.
Witnesses tell the AFP news agency they are seeing intense street battles between the rival forces in Khartoum.
The army says it has deployed soldiers to “comb” the streets looking for members of the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
People in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman tell the BBC they are still feeling a mixture of shock and anger.
Two women crying at the entrance to a mosque explain they have lost several family members – including two children.
Eid is the Muslim festival marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan – and Sudanese people usually relish it as a time for visiting family and eating together with their neighbours, while children play and enjoy sweets.
Prayer services would normally be packed on Eid, but on Friday many mosques in Khartoum and Omdurman are almost empty as people shelter at home.
Others meanwhile have fled the capital for their home regions.
Source:Fiilafmonline/BBC
