Fighting surges in Sudan as three-day ceasefire comes to an end

Army and RSF agree to extend truce but violence means no respite for exhausted civilians

• Sudan crisis - latest updates

Rival factions in Sudan agreed on Thursday night to extend a ceasefire despite reports of surging fighting across the country that many fear suggests intense violence in the days to come.

A 72-hour truce from Monday night had initially brought relative calm to Khartoum, Sudan's capital, and so facilitated the evacuation of thousands of foreign nationals in recent days. But fighting between the Sudanese army and its paramilitary rival, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), escalated through Thursday in the city and its environs, as well as in the country's restive south-west.