Eid al-Fitr prayers held in Mecca, Omdurman and Nairobi

Muslims in Kenya and around the world marked the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and ushered in the holiday of Eid al-Fitr on Friday with prayers.

But the festivities were overshadowed by raging battles for control of Sudan and a deadly stampede in Yemen.

The Islamic calendar is lunar and depends on the sighting of the moon — something Muslim religious authorities tend to disagree on.

Ramadan sees worshippers fasting daily from dawn to sunset, ending with Eid al-Fitr celebrations.

This year again, the holiday comes amid fighting and devastation, particularly in the Middle East.

In Sudan, the holiday was eclipsed by raging battles between the army and its rival paramilitary force, despite two attempted cease-fires.

The fighting since Saturday has killed hundreds of people and wounded thousands.

In Yemen, the Arab world's most impoverished nation, a stampede late Wednesday at a charitable event in the rebel-held capital of Sanaa killed at least 78 people and injured 77.

"We ask Allah Subhana U Wataallah (God, the most glorified and exalted) to relieve them of the pain, to help them overcome the challenges," Imam Abdulrahman Musa at the Rahma Mosque in Nairobi said after prayers.