Fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the country’s main paramilitary group, which has gained control of Khartoum airport.
(Bloomberg) —
Fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the country’s main paramilitary group, which has gained control of Khartoum airport.
Gun shots and tank canons could be heard ringing out in the city after talks between Sudan’s army and civilian politicians to discuss a potential power-sharing plan broke down.
The international airport in Khartoum was under the control of paramilitary forces and a statement from the main paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, said it had also taken an airport in Meroe, approximately 200 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of Khartoum.
In recent days tensions between the RSF, which has origins in the janjaweed militia that terrorized the western region of Darfur in the 2000s, and the army headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan have mounted over who retains power.
Fighting could be heard in three locations in the capital, including at the army’s headquarters. The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a non-government group, said violence had broken out in residential neighborhoods, leading to “varying injuries” to citizen.
In a statement, the RSF said it had been surprised when national soldiers entered its base in Khartoum “besieging the forces present there and then attacking them with a variety of heavy and light weapons.”
US ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, called on all parties of the conflict to “urgently” stop the fighting.
A spokesperson for the army couldn’t immediately be reached.
(adds details on airports in third paragraphs, injuries in fifth paragraph)
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