Aid situation worsens as Sudan fighting spreads

Desperately needed relief supplies are being confiscated by the warring parties in Sudan as fighting spreads to areas previously untouched by the 10-week-old conflict between top generals, aid agencies said on Friday.

Demonstrations in support of the regular army were held Friday in greater Khartoum and in White Nile state to its south as civilians gave vent to their anger at the widespread requisition of private homes by the rival paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), witnesses said.

The battle for power between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has killed more than 2,000 people since April 15, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

Greater Khartoum and the flashpoint western region of Darfur have been the main battlegrounds so far but this week residents reported a flare-up of fighting in the Kordofan region, scene of another long-running rebellion.

On Friday, witnesses reported renewed artillery exchanges and street-fighting in Khartoum, as well as "clashes between the army and the RSF" in North Kordofan state, hundreds of kilometres (miles) to its south.

The United Nations says a record 25 million people -- more than half of Sudan's population -- are in need of aid and protection.

While some relief supplies have trickled in, aid agencies report almost insurmountable hurdles to their work.

"Blatant restrictions on entry into Sudan for humanitarian workers and aid supplies are leaving millions in need stranded," according to the Norwegian Refugee Council's William Carter.

Doctors without Border (MSF) reported similar hurdles. Permits have been "delayed, rejected, rescinded, or plainly not respected," while ...