Africa Live: Thousands flee Sudan violence for Chad - UN - BBC News

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• Gunfire and explosions in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, have spread to the west and the south of the city as fighting between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces escalates. The army says it has deployed thousands of soldiers, carrying out operations on foot for the first time since fighting broke out almost a week ago. "We had a lot of sort of heavy gunfire in this area. It's possible that some of the paramilitary forces were being chased by the Sudan armed forces into the neighbourhood from the main road which they had been occupying,” Kholood Khair, a political analyst who lives in Khartoum, told the BBC's Newshour programme. “This shows you to what extent ordinary citizens are being caught in the crossfire and are collateral in something like this - that these skirmishes which I imagine will become more frequent will have a lot of people indoors and afraid." She said people were working together to get basic supplies but many were in a desperate situation. "Everyone's helping... each other out, of course. We're seeing this on a much grander scale across the city. There have been sort of grocery runs, bread runs - but very carefully timed and not of course without risk. “There are people around the city, and around the country which we're hearing are in a much more desperate situation where there is no access, or they can't leave the premises at any time of day… [or] they may not have the money."

• The only functioning hospital in Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, is overwhelmed with patients injured during heavy fighting between rival military factions, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says. The medical charity’s Cyrus Paye said his team in Fasher had repurposed a maternity hospital to receive the wounded as all other hospitals in the city had had to close because of their proximity to the fighting, or the inability of staff to reach them. The maternity South Hospital has received 279 wounded patients since the clashes began on Saturday. Quote Message: Tragically, 44 have died. The situation is catastrophic. The majority of the wounded are civilians who were hit by stray bullets, and many of them are children. Tragically, 44 have died. The situation is catastrophic. The majority of the wounded are civilians who were hit by stray bullets, and many of them are children. Quote Message: Many need blood transfusions. There are so many patients that they are being treated on the floor in the corridors because there simply aren’t enough beds to accommodate the vast number of wounded." from MSF's Cyrus Paye Many need blood transfusions. There are so many patients that they are being treated on the floor in the corridors because there simply aren’t enough beds to accommodate the vast number of wounded." MSF's Cyrus Paye MSFCopyright: MSF Cyrus Paye gave his account over the phone to MSF colleagues, saying he could hear gunfire from their compoundImage caption: Cyrus Paye gave his account over the phone to MSF colleagues, saying he could hear gunfire from their compound The hospital was rapidly running out of supplies - as airports were closed as was with the border with Chad, which neighbours Darfur, the MSF project co-ordinator explained. Quote Message: If the situation doesn’t change and humanitarian access is not granted, there will be even greater loss of life.” If the situation doesn’t change and humanitarian access is not granted, there will be even greater loss of life.”

• Sudan's army has said it will continue operations against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RFS) in the capital, Khartoum, despite a 72-hour ceasefire call from the rival forces, according to an military statement reported by several news site, including Saudi-owned Al Arabiya. The army said it had launched "intensive strikes" on Friday against RFS, noting that the operations would continue across Khartoum, Sudanese news outlet al-Mashhad al-Sudani reports. It said thousands of soldiers have been deployed to undertake the "combing operations" in the capital. On Friday morning, the army was tweeting clips of its troops on the streets of the city. Sudan News website said violent clashes continued in Omdurman, in the west of Khartoum, with "heavy weapons". Ahmed Mamoun, a Khartoum resident, posted footage and photos of soldiers patrolling several streets in the capital. Allow Twitter content? This post contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-cookies and privacy policy https://twitter.com/en/privacy before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. Accept and continue Sounds of gunfire were reported in Khartoum in the early hours of Friday, with the RSF accusing the army of staging a “sweeping attack” on the capital.