Intensity of clashes eases amid Sudan truce, say residents

People walk by a house hit in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan on Tuesday, after the truce. Pic/AP

Sudanese in the capital of Khartoum and the neighboring city of Omdurman reported sporadic clashes early on Wednesday between the military and a rival paramilitary force but said the intensity of fighting had dwindled on the second day of a three-day truce.

Many residents of the capital emerged from their homes to seek food and water, lining up at bakeries or grocery stores, witnesses said. Some inspected shops or homes that had been destroyed or looted during the fighting. Others joined the tens of thousands who have been streaming out of the city in recent days.

"There is a sense of calm in my area and neighborhoods," said Mahasen Ali, a tea vendor who lives in Khartoum's southern neighborhood of May. Clashes were centered in more limited pockets of Khartoum and Omdurman, residents said, mainly around the military's headquarters and the Republican Palace which is the seat of power.

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Hours of truce called in Sudan

Sudanese abroad try to extend a lifeline and aid back home; demonstrations in London

For some of the roughly 50,000 Sudanese people in the United Kingdom, a sense of helplessness over a situation that seems to have no end in sight has been replaced by a sense of duty. Some are trying to help family, friends - even strangers - who are sheltering from urban combat between two military factions threatening to tear the country apart. On Sunday, dozens of Sudanese staged a loud and lively demonstration outside Britain's Ministry of Defense to draw attention to what their families are facing, holding signs saying, "Stop the war in Sudan."

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