Sustained battles and artillery fire were reported in portions of Sudan’s capital Khartoum early Sunday, shortly after a 24-hour ceasefire that had offered a temporary respite to eight weeks of conflict between competing military factions.

Witnesses reported violence started after the truce expired at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) in the north of Omdurman, one of three contiguous cities that make up the capital surrounding the Nile’s confluence, along with Khartoum and Bahri.

Residents said there had been artillery fire in the Sharq el-Nil area on the eastern outskirts of the capital, and around a bridge linking Omdurman and Bahri. Blasts and clashes were also reported in Khartoum.

War between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out on April 15 over tensions linked to an internationally backed plan for a transition towards civilian rule.

The conflict has displaced more than 1.9 million people, triggering a major humanitarian crisis that threatens to spill across a volatile region.

Fighting has been concentrated in the capital, much of which has become a war zone plagued by looting and clashes.

Unrest has also flared elsewhere including the western region of Darfur, already suffering from a conflict that peaked in the early 2000s.

Residents and activists have reported a further deterioration in recent days in El Geneina, near the border with Chad, and new waves of attacks by Arab nomadic tribes with ties to the RSF. The city has been largely cut off from telephone networks for several weeks.