KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — A Sudanese medical group said at least 26 people were killed and 103 wounded in Saturday’s fighting between the country’s army and a powerful paramilitary force.
The deaths occurred in areas across the country, including the capital Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman, the Sudan Medical Union said in a statement. Many of the injured were in southwestern Sudan.
The violence comes after months of rising tensions between the military and fast-back paramilitary forces and years of political turmoil since the military coup in October 2021. It sparked fears of a wider conflict among many as fighting continued late Saturday.
THIS IS A HATE NEWS UPDATE. The following is AP’s back story:
Sudan’s army and a powerful paramilitary force engaged in fierce fighting in the capital and elsewhere in the country on Saturday, dealing another blow to hopes of a transition to democracy and raising fears of a wider conflict. A team of doctors said at least three people were killed and dozens injured.
The clashes ended months of heightened tensions between the armed forces and the Rapid Support Force group. Such tensions have delayed a deal with political parties to return the country to its short-lived transition to democracy, which was derailed by a military coup in October 2021.
After a day of heavy fighting, the army ruled out negotiations with the RSF, demanding instead the disbandment of what it called a “rebel militia”. The harsh language signaled that the conflict between the former allies, who jointly orchestrated the 2021 coup, could continue.
In a statement late Saturday, the military urged Sudanese to stay in their homes as its air force pursued RSF troops.
Fighting broke out on Saturday morning. Heavy gunfire was heard during the day in the capital, Khartoum, and its twin city, Omdurman, where the army and RSF have been massing tens of thousands of troops since the coup.
Witnesses said fighters from both sides fired from armored vehicles and truck-mounted machine guns into densely populated areas. Some tanks were seen in Khartoum. The army said it had launched aircraft and drone strikes on RSF positions in and around the capital.
As night fell, residents said they still heard gunfire and explosions in various parts of Khartoum, including around the army headquarters and other bases.
Those in Khartoum described chaotic scenes. “Fire and explosions are everywhere,” said Amal Mohamed, a doctor at a public hospital in Omdurman.
“I have never seen such battles in Khartoum,” resident Abdel-Hamid Mustafa said.
One of the flashpoints was Khartoum International Airport. There was no official announcement of the airport’s closure, but major airlines suspended flights.
Saudi Arabia’s national airline said one of its planes was involved in what it called an “accident”. The video showed the plane burning on the tarmac. Apparently another plane caught fire. Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 identified it as a Boeing 737 for SkyUp, an airline based in Kiev, Ukraine. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Sudanese Medical Union said two civilians were killed at the airport. Another man was shot dead in North Kordofan state, the statement said. The BBC said one of its reporters was stopped by soldiers, taken to military headquarters and beaten.
The armed forces and RSF leaders traded blame for who started the fighting on Saturday and gave conflicting accounts of who was in control of key facilities.
General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, Sudan’s army chief, told Qatari satellite news network Al Jazeera that RSF troops first “harassed” the army south of Khartoum, sparking the clashes.
Burhan accused the RSF of entering Khartoum airport and setting fire to aircraft. He also said that all strategic facilities, including the army headquarters and the republican palace, the seat of Sudan’s presidency, were under the control of his forces. He threatened to send more troops to Khartoum.
RSF chief General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo accused Burhan of starting the fight with surrounding RSF troops. “This criminal, he forced this battle on us,” he said.
Dagalo told Al Jazeera he believed it would be over in the “next few days”.
The RSF said its forces control strategic positions in Khartoum and the northern town of Merowe, about 350 kilometers (215 miles) northwest of the capital. The military dismissed the claims as “lies”.
The fighting comes after months of rising tensions between generals and years of political turmoil since the 2021 coup. The tensions stem from a disagreement over how the RSF, led by Dagalo, should be integrated into the army and by what authority should oversee the process. The merger is a key condition of Sudan’s unsigned transition agreement with political groups.
Pro-democracy activists have accused Burhan and Dagalo of abuses against protesters across the county over the past four years, including a deadly June 2019 crackdown on a protest camp outside military headquarters in Khartoum that killed more than 120 protesters . . Many groups have repeatedly called for them to be held accountable. The RSF has long been accused of atrocities related to the Darfur conflict.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior diplomats expressed grave concern about the outbreak of violence. “We urge all actors to immediately stop violence and avoid escalation or further mobilization of troops and continue discussions to resolve outstanding issues,” Blinken tweeted.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; the top diplomat of the European Union, Josep Borrell; the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat; the head of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit; and Qatar have all called for a ceasefire and for both sides to return to negotiations. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have called on those fighting in Sudan to show restraint and work towards a political solution.
Former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, ousted in a 2021 coup, has warned of possible regional conflict if fighting escalates. “The shooting must stop immediately,” he said in a video call to both sides posted on his Twitter account.
Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank and a former US diplomat, said the fighting could become wider and more protracted, calling for the US to form a coalition of regional countries to put pressure on group leaders. . the army and the RSF to de-escalate.
Volker Perthes, the UN envoy for Sudan, and the Saudi ambassador to Sudan, Ali Bin Hassan Jaffar, have been in contact with Dagalo and Burhan to try to end the violence, a UN official said. .
Chad has announced the closure of its land borders with Sudan.
Clashes also took place in other areas of the country, including Northern Province, the conflict-torn Darfur region and the strategic Red Sea coastal city of Port Sudan, a military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they didn’t exist. authorized to inform the media.
Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report.
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