The Sudanese paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) say they have taken control of the Presidential Palace, as tensions between the force and the army erupted into violence.
Fierce clashes between Sudan’s military and the country’s powerful paramilitary force erupted on Saturday in the capital and elsewhere in the African nation, raising fears of a wider conflict in the chaos-stricken country.
A doctors’ group said at least three people, including civilians, were killed and dozens more injured.
The sound of heavy firing could be heard across the capital, Khartoum, and its sister city of Omdurman, where both the military and the RSF have amassed tens of thousands of troops since an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudan’s fragile path to democracy.
“Fire and explosions are everywhere,” said Amal Mohamed, a doctor in a public hospital in Omdurman. “All are running and seeking shelter.”
Another Khartoum resident, Abdel-Hamid Mustafa, said soldiers from both sides on armored trucks were seen firing at each other in the streets and residential areas. “We haven’t seen such battles in Khartoum before,” she said.
One of the flashpoints was Khartoum International Airport, where clashes grounded commercial Sudan-bound flights from Saudi Arabia turned back after nearly landing at the airport, flight tracking data showed Saturday.
Saudi Arabia’s national airline said one of its Airbus A330 aircraft was involved in “an accident.”
Video showed the plane on fire on the tarmac. Another plane also appeared to have caught fire in the attack.
Flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 identified it as a SkyUp Airlines Boeing 737. SkyUp is a Kyiv, Ukraine-based airline. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Heavy fighting has been also reported around the Presidential Palace and Army Headquarters in the capital Khartoum, witnesses told CNN.
A Reuters journalist saw cannon and armoured vehicles deployed in streets, and heard the sound of heavy weapons fire near the headquarters of both the army and RSF.
In a statement, the RSF also claimed control of airports in Khartoum, Marwa and al-Abiad. Flights have been suspended inbound and outbound from the airport in Khartoum.
A military official told the AP that fighter jets took off from a military base north of Omdurman and attacked the RSF’s positions in and around Khartoum. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media.
The RSF said they were responding to the surprise attack from the army on one of their bases.
Sudan’s Armed Forces Command said in a statement that it was fighting the RSF in Khartoum, accusing the group of “traitorous plotting” against the country.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates called on those fighting in Sudan to exercise restraint and work toward a political solution in the county.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell; the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat; the Arab League chief, Ahmed Aboul Gheit; and Qatar all called for a cease-fire and for both parties to return to negotiations to settle their dispute.
Former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was ousted in the 2021 coup, warned of a possible regional conflict if the fighting escalates. He urged the leaders of the military and the RSF to immediately cease hostilities.
“Shooting must stop immediately,” he said in a video message posted on his Twitter account.
The US Ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, wrote online that he was “currently sheltering in place with the Embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing.” He urged bother sides to cease fire.
“Escalation of tensions within the military component to direct fighting is extremely dangerous,” Godfrey wrote.
“I urgently call on senior military leaders to stop the fighting.”
Meanwhile US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the situation in Khartoum is “fragile” when asked by a reporter to comment during a presser in Vietnam.
“We urge all actors to stop the violence immediately and avoid further escalations or troop mobilisations and continue talks to resolve outstanding issues,” Blinken later wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the British embassy has warned all UK nationals in the captial city to “remain indoors”.
It comes as the BBC reported that a correspondent for BBC News Arabic in Khartoum, Mohamed Osman, was beaten by a Sudanese soldier.
The broadcaster said the army had stopped Osman’s car while he was en route to his work and that he was taken to army headquarters in Omdurman. While explaining his movements to officers, he was hit in the head from behind by a soldier, the BBC said.
The military has been in charge of Sudan since a coup in 2021, which ended a power sharing arrangement formed following the ousting of long-term former President Omar al-Bashir.
Talks have been under way on integrating the RSF into the army as part of the move towards the return of civilian rule, Reuters reports.
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