Gardood's death came just a day after the warring sides reached a ceasefire deal to limit civilian fatalities.

One of Sudan’s most well-known musicians, Shaden Gardood, has been killed in a crossfire in the country’s city of Omdurman.

Gardood died on Friday amid clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Fighting in Sudan erupted in mid-April over a violent power struggle among the country’s military commanders. In recent days, the RSF has increased its presence in the al-Hashmab neighbourhood, where Gardood had lived.

The 37-year-old’s niece Heraa Hassan Mohammed confirmed her death on Facebook, saying: “She was like a mother and a beloved to me, we were just chatting, may God give her mercy.”

In a video that circulated on social media, Gardood said she was trying to hide from the shelling and asked her son to close the windows.

“Go away from the doors and the windows… in the name of Allah, we are going to die ready wearing our full clothes... you should wear this, we will die in a better shape,” She could be heard saying.

Gardood regularly made live Facebook broadcasts talking about the clashes and shelling in her neighbourhood, and she also wrote extensively about the conflict.

In one of her last Facebook posts, she said: “We have been trapped in our houses for 25 days… we are hungry and living in an enormous fear, but are full of ethics and values,” referring to looting across Sudan’s capital Khartoum.

One resident living in the same neighbourhood as Gardood, said the singer died as a result of her injuries. Gardood is survived by her 15-year-old son Hamoudy, her mother, and her sister.

The fighting between SAF and the RSF has been ongoing in Khartoum for almost a month. The conflict began when the RSF refused to join Sudan’s army under a planned transition to civilian rule.

Hospitals have been forced to close due to extreme food, water, and electricity shortages. More than 600 civilians have died and over 4,000 injured.

Gardood and her family relocated to Khartoum from South Kordofan, a war zone area since 2011. She sang for peace and security in her region as a Hakama, a traditional poet in western Sudan who inspires men to go to battle, and promoted the culture of her marginalised community, the al-Bagara, in South Kordofan.

Several public figures have been killed in Khartoum in recent weeks, including 80-year-old Asia Abdelmajid, Sudan’s first professional actress, and 72-year-old former footballer Fozi el-Mardi, who died only a few days after the death of his daughter in a crossfire.