PORT SUDAN, Sudan
\nHundreds of families fled a northern suburb of Sudan\u2019s capital Khartoum on Saturday after fighting between the army and paramilitaries intensified around a key military base, witnesses said.
\nThe paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked the Hattab base in Khartoum North, also known as Bahri, on Wednesday.
\nThe army, led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, is locked in conflict with the RSF led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
\nThe war began in April 2023 and has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and triggered one of the world\u2019s worst humanitarian crises.
\n\u201cSince this morning, the army has been firing artillery toward the south of Hattab while military planes are flying over\u201d the area, one witness said on Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
\nNasr El-Din, a resident who asked that only his first name be used for security reasons, said the RSF \u201cattacked houses south (of the Hattab base), capturing citizens and killing others.\u201d
\n\u201cSince early morning, hundreds of families have left for the north, carrying their belongings on their heads,\u201d he added in an account corroborated by another witness.
\nUN experts on Friday called for the deployment of an \u201cindependent and impartial force\u201d to protect millions of civilians driven from their homes in Sudan.
\nAfter an independent fact-finding mission mandated by the Human Rights Council, the UN experts said \u201charrowing\u201d violations by both sides had been uncovered, \u201cwhich may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.\u201d
\nMeanwhile more than 25 million people \u2014 upwards of half Sudan\u2019s population \u2014 face acute hunger, with full-blown famine declared in a camp for displaced people in the volatile western region of Darfur.
\nWorld Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday began a two-day visit to Port Sudan, the de facto seat of government after fighting forced the authorities out of Khartoum.
\nHe met a health minister and will also meet other officials and visit health facilities, an AFP correspondent on the ground reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PORT SUDAN, Sudan Hundreds of families fled a northern suburb of Sudan\u2019s capital Khartoum on Saturday after fighting between the army and paramilitaries intensified around a key military base, witnesses said. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked the Hattab base in Khartoum North, also known as Bahri, on Wednesday. The army, led by de facto […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-431318","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n