THE fighting between rival military factions in Sudan has more than doubled the number of displaced people in the country to 700,000, the United Nations said today.

The increase in displacements over the last week has raised fears of an even greater spike in violence, despite ceasefire talks being held in Saudi Arabia.

Khartoum, the capital, has been devastated by the conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which broke out on April 15.

But fierce fighting has also been reported in Bahri, Omdurman and the western region of Darfur.

Paul Dillon, spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration, a UN agency, said: “Many IDPs [internally displaced people] are sheltering with relatives, while others are gathering in schools, mosques and public buildings.”

Mr Dillon added that people had no access to many essentials.

“The ATMs aren't working and the banking system is not functioning,” he said. “Fuel is difficult to come by and expensive.”

Last week, the UN said that about 100,000 people had fled to neighbouring states and the number could approach a million if fighting did not stop.

Representatives of the army and RSF have held their first face-to face-talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah in a bid to agree a ceasefire.