A fresh exchange of artillery and rocket fire in Khartoum and neighbouring Omdurman has killed at least 35 people.

The emergency services in the two war-ravaged regions of the North African country said dozens of civilians sustained injuries in the fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) on Sunday.

According to a statement from the Karari emergency committee, artillery shells landed on residential neighbourhoods near a military base in the north of Omdurman.

The bombings left 12 people dead and dozens injured, the statement said.

Separately, the emergency service in Khartoum said 23 people, including 12 civilians, died in army aerial bombardments in the Al Kalakla neighbourhood.

The statement said the army targeted a school there which had been turned into a garrison by the paramilitary force.

The escalation of violence in Khartoum, where the military has taken control of large areas in recent weeks, comes even as the army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is trying to rally international support to ensure that the war that began on April 15 ends.

There is no sign of a ceasefire between the two warring sides amid intensifying fighting in the capital and the western Darfur region — a paramilitary stronghold.

Recent weeks have witnessed a surge in clashes, fueled by the intense struggle for control over strategically significant fronts.

RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo proposed a peace roadmap on August 27, emphasising a “lasting ceasefire” with the army as the initial step towards resolving the conflict and ending the power struggle.

Burhan and Daglo jointly orchestrated a military coup in October 2021 against the transitional civilian government established after the ousting of dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

Over time, differences between the two generals escalated before culminating in a full-scale civil war in April after weeks of simmering tension over integrating the RSF into the military.

Both sides have blamed each other for the war, which has claimed up to 5000 lives, displaced millions from their homes, and pushed nearly a million to flee across Sudanese borders.