Khartoum city streets were mostly empty of people and traffic on Sunday, with both warring sides mounting roadblocks.
But long queues formed at bakeries and the few shops that remained open, as some people briefly ventured out to buy food before returning home to safety.
In the afternoon, there was a three-hour pause in hostilities to allow thousands of locked-down people to move and for the injured to get to hospital.
Among residents, there was shock - and also anger.
Unlike other parts of the country, such as the often turbulent western Darfur region, Khartoum is not used to war. This is the first time that people in the capital have seen such clashes.
Early on Sunday, Sudan's doctors' union said at least 17 civilians had been killed in the city, but after two days of fighting, the true number of victims is likely to be higher.
Khartoum resident Kholood Khair told the BBC that residents could not be sure of safety anywhere.
"All civilians have been urged to stay at home, but that has not kept everyone safe," she said.
"There are lots of people either being in their homes or being sort of in and around their homes, on the rooftops, in the gardens et cetera, that have been either hurt or killed by a stray bullet."
Those victims included an Indian national, Albert Augestine, who was working in Sudan and was hit by stray gunfire on Saturday, the Indian embassy said.
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Heavy fighting and explosions continued to shake the city, including in areas held by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), suggesting that their claim to control 90% of Khartoum had little to back it up.
Hamid Khalafallah, a researcher and policy analyst at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in Khartoum, told the BBC that the Sudanese military appeared to be bombing targets within the city.
"We woke up to sounds of very heavy gunfire and bombings, in some cases even louder than yesterday," he said, adding that jet fighters had been heard overhead.
"Basically, the Sudanese armed forces are trying to target locations where the Rapid Support Forces' militia are located."