Sudan's rival commanders agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire from Tuesday evening, after pressure from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken over fighting that has engulfed the capital Khartoum and saw shots fired at a U.S. diplomatic convoy.

The conflict between Sudan's military leader and his deputy broke out four days ago, triggering what the United Nations has described as a humanitarian catastrophe, including the near collapse of the health system. At least 185 people have been killed in the fighting across the country.

beyond the agreed 24 hours, Army General Shams El Din Kabbashi, a member of Sudan's ruling military council, said on al Arabiya TV.

Early on Tuesday, gunfire echoed across the capital Khartoum accompanied by the sound of warplanes and explosions. Residents in the neighbouring cities of Omdurman and Bahri reported air strikes that shook buildings and anti-aircraft fire. Fighting also raged in the west of the country, the United Nations said.

Fighting appeared to tail off close to the deadline for the ceasefire, which coincided with the evening breaking of the daily fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Blinken, speaking in Japan, said he had telephoned both army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, of the RSF, appealing for the 24-hour ceasefire "to allow the Sudanese to be safely reunited with families" and to provide them with relief.

Burhan heads a ruling council installed after a 2021 military coup and the 2019 ouster of veteran autocratic president Omar Bashir during mass protests. Hemedti is Burhan's deputy on the ruling council.

Their power struggle has derailed an internationally-backed plan to shift to civilian democratic rule after decades of autocracy and military control in Sudan, which sits at a strategic crossroads between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Africa's volatile Sahel region.

Unless controlled, the violence also risks drawing in actors from Sudan's neighbourhood who have backed different factions, and could play into competition for regional influence between Russia and the United States.