Gunfire heard but uneasy truce holds in Sudan

KHARTOUM, Apr 25 (BBC/AFP): A ceasefire in Sudan appears to be holding, although there have been reports of new gunfire and shelling.
It is the fourth effort to stop the fighting which began on 15 April, with previous truces not observed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the 72-hour truce had been agreed between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after 48 hours of negotiations. The latest ceasefire attempt started at midnight (22:00 GMT on Monday).
At least 459 people have died in the conflict so far, though the actual number is thought to be much higher. Both sides had confirmed they would cease hostilities.
But Tagreed Abdin, who lives 7km from the centre of Khartoum, said she could hear shelling from her home on Tuesday morning despite the agreement.
"The situation right now is that this morning there was shelling and gunfire," she told the BBC. "Obviously the ceasefire hasn't taken," she added.
The RSF has accused the army of violating the truce by "continuing to attack Khartoum with planes".
Meanwhile, an army spokesperson has told Sky News Arabia that the RSF was responsible for "storming prisons" following reports of gunfire at Port Sudan.
In other developments, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned there is a "high risk of biological hazard" after fighters seized a laboratory believed to be holding samples of diseases, including polio and measles.
The National Public Health Laboratory is near the centre of Khartoum and not far from city's main airport.
The WHO told the BBC that workers can no longer access the laboratory, and power cuts are making it impossible to properly manage the biological and chemical materials that are stored in the lab.
Since the violence began, residents of Khartoum have been told to stay inside, and food and water supplies have been running low. The bombing has hit key infrastructure, like water pipes, meaning that some people have been forced to drink from the River Nile.
Hospitals are running out of key supplies and struggling to cope, according to secretary general of Sudan Doctors Union Dr Atia Abdalla Atia.
Countries have scrambled to evacuate diplomats and civilians as fighting raged in central, densely populated parts of the capital.
There will be hopes the latest ceasefire will allow civilians to leave the city. Foreign governments will also hope it will allow for continued evacuations out of the country.
Several EU member states, as well as African and Asian countries, have evacuated hundreds of their citizens, while the UK government has announced it will begin evacuating British passport holders and immediate family members from Tuesday.
Huge biological risk after Sudan
fighters occupy lab: WHO
The World Health Organization warned Tuesday that fighters in conflict-ravaged Sudan had occupied a central public laboratory holding samples of diseases including polio and measles, creating an "extremely, extremely dangerous" situation.
"There is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab... by one of the fighting parties," Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO's representative in Sudan, told reporters in Geneva via video-link.