Thousands of civilians have fled Sudan's capital and foreign nations are trying to evacuate their citizens. One local fleeing the capital told the BBC the RSF had set up checkpoints on roads around the city and some of its fighters had robbed him.
As the fighting intensifies, a number of nations say they have started preparations to evacuate their citizens from the country. Japan said its Self Defence Forces were considering how to evacuate some 60 Japanese citizens from Sudan, with a military plane placed on standby.
Tanzania's Foreign Affairs Minister Stergomena Tax told parliament that his government was also evaluating whether it was possible to evacuate 210 of its citizens. However, the US embassy in Khartoum said "the uncertain security situation" in the capital meant there were no plans for a "US government-coordinated evacuation". And the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told the BBC that it was advising locals calling it for help to stay put and avoid putting themselves in the line of fire. "Whoever calls, we tell them the truth: 'Look, right now it's a challenge to get you out, and it's better and safer to stay where you are,'" Farid Abdulkadir, the organisation's chief in Sudan, told Focus on Africa. The death toll caused by the fighting is unclear, but the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said on Tuesday that at least 174 civilians had been killed in the violence.In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the US, EU, UK and 12 other nations said the death toll had reached 270. However, experts say the real figure could be far higher, with many wounded unable to reach hospitals which have reportedly been shelled. Tanzeel Khan - an Indian national working in Khartoum - told the BBC that airstrikes in the city were putting civilian lives at risk. "Since this morning, the airstrikes in this area have intensified and we do not know when they're going to hit our building," he said. "There are around 15 other people living in the same building who are facing similar difficulties." A Russian woman trapped in a Greek Orthodox church in Khartoum said that her situation was growing desperate, after her group ran out of power, food and water. She told the BBC that "urban electricity [was] cut off from the very beginning of the fighting", but that a generator powering the church had run out of fuel. The Norwegian Refugee Council - a humanitarian group that helps people displaced by conflict - said "virtually all humanitarian work has been paralysed" in Sudan and that it was impossible to provide assistance on the ground amid such heavy fighting. "You cannot operate when there is fighting all over the place, when it's unsafe to drive on the roads, when the airport is closed," the organisation's head Jan Egeland told the BBC. "I'm talking about humanitarian organisations who have seen their warehouses looted, their compounds invaded, their staff held at gunpoint. You know, colleagues have been sexually abused. It's really, really very bad," he added.Sudan is in north-east Africa and has a history of instability:It then overthrew a power-sharing government in 2021, putting two men at the helm:They disagree on how to restore civilian rule to Sudan: The RSF leader claims to represent marginalised groups against the country's elites but his forces were accused of ethnic cleansinghaveyoursay@bbc.co.ukPlease include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
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