Shelling in Sudanese capital disrupts aid delivery efforts to civilians

Heavy shelling in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Thursday disrupted efforts to deliver badly needed aid to trapped civilians as yet another fragile and frequently violated truce ran out, residents said.

Sudan has plunged into chaos since fighting erupted in mid-April between the country's two top generals.

There is increasing concern for those trapped and displaced by the fighting, and aid workers and civilians have said there is a dire lack of basic services, medical care, food and water.

In central areas of the capital, Khartoum, sporadic explosions could be heard Thursday, a day after the United Nations warned that the country's people are facing a humanitarian catastrophe," and the latest in a series of cease-fires expired earlier in the day.

The situation is very dire, Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the country's doctors' syndicate said. All forms of shelling can still be heard in Khartoum, whether air or artillery shelling.

Black plumes of smoke rising from downtown