Witnesses have reported that a fighter plane has been shot down in Khartoum on Tuesday, as fighting and artillery fire struck numerous districts in Sudan's war-torn capital.

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"We saw pilots parachuting as the plane dived towards the ground ," said a witness in northern Khartoum. A source within the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (FSR) told AFP that the FSR had shot down the army plane.

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The FSR said they had "arrested the pilot after he landed" in a statement, also accusing the army of "heinous massacres" in the Khartoum region.

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The Sudanese army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane , has been at war since April 15 with the paramilitaries of the FSR led by its former number two, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo .

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The conflict has killed nearly 3,000 people, according to the NGO Acled, and 2.8 million displaced persons and refugees, according to the UN. A resident of Omdurman, in the northern suburbs of the capital, reported on Tuesday "violent clashes using various types of weapons".

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Other witnesses said they observed "airstrikes (near) the state television building", which the RSF launched an attack on this week and used anti-aircraft missiles on Tuesday.

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In the east of the capital, residents also reported clashes with machine guns.

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The army also "launched rockets and heavy artillery" at RSF bases in the centre and north of the capital, a witness said. Homes were damaged and civilians were rushed to one of the few hospitals still operational, another added.

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In Khartoum and the western Darfur region, the fighting mainly affected densely populated neighborhoods. The streets are littered with dead bodies and houses have been targeted by missiles, witnesses said.

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Trapped by the fighting, civilians have had to ration water, food, electricity and medicine for almost three months.

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