The Sudanese army targeted warehouses belonging to the rebel #RSF militia in the "Jabra" area, south of the capital, Khartoum.

 Sudan is in the midst of a deadly power struggle between two factions, the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has resulted in the deaths of at least 185 people and injured more than 1,800. The fighting, which has escalated since Saturday, has caused power and water cuts in the capital and disrupted health services. There have been reports of airstrikes, artillery fire, and shooting in Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri, making it the worst violence in decades.

UN envoy Volker Perthes stated that the two factions have shown no signs of being willing to negotiate, despite a three-hour humanitarian truce agreed upon. The continued violence risks tearing Sudan apart between the military factions that had shared power during a rocky political transition. The RSF was due to merge with the army under an internationally backed transition plan, but Burhan, the army chief, has branded the RSF a rebel group and ordered its dissolution. The RSF leader, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, called Burhan a "radical Islamist who is bombing civilians from the air."

The continued violence could destabilize the volatile region and play into competition for influence between Russia and the United States and regional powers that have courted different actors in Sudan. Egypt, the most important backer of Sudan's armed forces, has long been wary of political change in Khartoum. The RSF leader, Hemedti, has cultivated ties with several foreign powers, including the United Arab Emirates and Russia.

The Sudanese army targeted warehouses belonging to the rebel #RSF militia in the "Jabra" area, south of the capital, Khartoum. 

There has been no sign on Monday that either side was willing to back down. While the army is larger and has air power, the RSF is widely deployed inside neighborhoods of Khartoum and other cities, giving neither faction the edge for a quick victory. Fighting between the sides in Darfur has raised the specter of renewed conflict in the western region that from 2003 was plagued by years of bloody warfare that killed as many as 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million.

The eruption of fighting over the weekend followed rising tensions over the RSF's integration into the military. Discord over the timetable for that process delayed a framework deal for a civilian transition that was due to be signed earlier this month. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an immediate ceasefire was needed, and the White House stated it was in touch with military leaders.

The UN chief Antonio Guterres urged a return to calm, saying an already precarious humanitarian situation was now catastrophic. The fighting has shuttered many aid programs, according to UN aid chief Martin Griffiths. With offices, schools, and petrol stations in the capital shut, some residents were venturing out to buy food, forming long queues at bakeries. However, there have been cases of looting, and many residents are scared their stores will be looted because there is no sense of security.

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