Airstrikes Ceasefire On The Line While Seizure Of Lab Poses 'Huge Biological Risk'

Airstrikes and reports of renewed fighting have threatened a delicate three-day truce in Sudan, while a senior aid worker warned of a potential "huge biological hazard" resulting from the seizure of a Khartoum laboratory containing deadly diseases

- Zeinab Mohammed Salih, Oliver Holmes, Kaamil Ahmed

A 72-hour ceasefire came into effect across the country at midnight on Monday and was largely holding. It is intended to give Sudanese people respite from days of bloodshed and allow the wounded to reach already limited medical care. World powers hope it will also provide time to fly out evacuees.

Three previously attempted ceasefires have failed over 11 days of fighting. So far, at least 459 people have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded, according to UN agencies.

Yesterday morning, multiple airstrikes struck the city of Omdurman, a city across the Nile from Khartoum, with a least one bomb hitting a civilian home. Later in the day, a private clinic in Omdurman was hit by an anti-aircraft rocket, injuring 10 people, and clashes were heard in new parts of north Khartoum.

Somaia Hassan, a mother of three, said she was hiding under a bed and citing verses from the Qur'an as gunfire trapped her in her home.

The violence has pitted army units loyal to its military ruler, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.