FIGHTERS from Sudan’s rival factions battled yesterday around the main military installation in Khartoum, the country’s capital, threatening to unravel the latest attempt at a ceasefire.

This comes as Sudanese soldiers crossed the border into Chad and sparked fears of the conflict spreading in the region.

With some parts of the Sudanese capital relatively calmer than previous days, the exodus of residents in Khartoum from their homes appeared to accelerate. 

“Massive numbers” of people, mostly women and children, were leaving in search of safer areas, said Atiya Abdulla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors’ Syndicate.

The 24-hour ceasefire, which came into effect on Wednesday evening, is the most significant attempt yet to halt violence between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). 

The rivals’ fight for control of Sudan has turned the densely populated Khartoum, its neighbouring city of Omdurman and other parts of the country into war zones, with millions of Sudanese caught in between.

Khartoum residents have been desperate for a respite after days of being trapped in their homes, their food and water running out. But whatever tenuous quiet has been brought to some areas by the truce looks to be falling apart.

At least 330 people have been killed and 3,300 wounded in the fighting since it began on Saturday, the World Health Organisation said, but the toll is likely higher because many bodies lie uncollected in the streets.

A previous truce attempt on Tuesday collapsed immediately with army chief General Abdel Fattah Burhan and RSF commander General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo seemingly determined to crush each other in their power struggle.

Meanwhile, as fears grow that the conflict may spill over into neighbouring countries, at least 320 Sudanese soldiers crossed into Chad earlier this week and have been disarmed, Chad’s Defence Minister Daoud Yaya Brahim said on Wednesday.

Benjamin Hunger, Africa analyst for risk assessment firm Verisk Maplecroft, said: “Chad is for the moment trying to remain neutral and help broker a ceasefire in Sudan.”

Diplomatic efforts were attempting to try to shore up a ceasefire.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, yesterday discussed efforts to stop the fighting and return to negotiations. 

Egypt is allied to Sudan’s military, while the UAE is close to the RSF.

Earlier this week, the Sudanese Communist Party labelled the fighting a “conflict over power and the country’s wealth.”

They called for “an immediate and comprehensive cessation of gunfire exchange.”