PORT SUDAN: Explosions were heard near the army-controlled Sudanese capital Khartoum on Friday, witnesses told AFP, a day after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said they agreed to a humanitarian truce. Following the RSF’s capture of El-Fasher, the army’s last major stronghold in western Darfur, less than two weeks ago, the paramilitaries appear to be shifting their focus eastward toward Khartoum and the oil-rich Kordofan region.

The group issued the statement after an 18-month siege of the city of el-Fasher in the western Darfur region.

The Rapid Support Forces have faced accusations of genocide and war crimes following the mass killing of thousands of people in Darfur.