KHARTOUM: A wanted Sudanese war crimes suspect has confirmed that he and others have escaped from prison during recent fighting, raising new fears for a fragile ceasefire that has enabled foreigners to flee.
The 72-hour ceasefire brokered by the United States was already struggling to hold after the regular army launched renewed air strikes against rival paramilitary forces in the capital late on Tuesday.
Anti-aircraft guns fired at fighter jets in the skies over Khartoum's sister city of Omdurman on Wednesday, witnesses said.
Armed clashes meanwhile continued in Soba on the outskirts of Khartoum.
The escape of leading figures from the ousted regime has raised fears the conflict may take a turn for the worse.
Members of the regime had been moved to a military hospital "due to their health conditions... and remain in the hospital under the guard of the judicial police", the army said in a statement, without specifying when they had been moved.
It was the third reported jail break to have taken advantage of the fighting between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al Burhan and those backing his deputy turned rival, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
It is said that jailed regime members "had now taken responsibility for protection."
Security fears had already been raised on Tuesday when the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a "huge biological risk" after combatants occupied a Khartoum laboratory holding samples of cholera, measles, polio and other infectious diseases.
The fighting between the rival generals, which has involved air strikes and artillery exchanges, has killed hundreds of people and left some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins.
"In some places, humanitarian aid is all that is keeping famine at bay," UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.
The fighting has killed at least 459 people and wounded more than 4,000, according to UN agencies.
A total of 14 hospitals have been shelled since fighting erupted while 19 others are out of service.
As the fighting eased on Tuesday, foreign governments organised road convoys, aircraft and ships to get their nationals out.
A ship carrying nearly 1,700 civilians from more than 50 countries docked in Saudi Arabia early on Wednesday.
Sudanese workers meanwhile complained of being left in a state of desperation, unable to leave their homes during the fighting. — AFP
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