The ongoing fighting between rival armed factions in Sudan has led to fierce clashes spreading across the country. The army and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been engaging in violent conflict for the past three days.
According to a doctors’ union, nearly 100 people have been killed, and an estimated 1,100 have been injured. Explosions have forced Khartoum residents to seek shelter, as both sides claim control of key sites in the capital.
Although both parties held a temporary ceasefire on Sunday to evacuate the wounded, it remains unclear how strictly they adhered to it.
Doctors warned that the situation at hospitals in Khartoum is extremely difficult, and that the fighting was stopping both staff and medical supplies from reaching injured people.
The fighting is part of a vicious power struggle within the country’s military leadership, which has escalated into violence between rival factions.
The two men at its centre disagree over how the country should transition to civilian rule. Since a coup ousted the long-standing authoritarian president, Omar al-Bashir, in 2019, generals have been running Sudan.
On Sunday and early Monday, the RSF claimed to occupy sites in the capital Khartoum. such as the presidential palace, and the adjoining city of Omdurman, as well as in the western region of Darfur and Merowe Airport in the north of the country.
But some accounts indicated that the army had regained control of the airport, with the military saying they were dealing with “small pockets of rebels”.
The army has previously denied that the RSF had seized key sites in the capital, and witnesses in the country told Reuters news agency that the army appeared to be making gains after blasting RSF bases with air strikes.
We haven’t slept for 24 hours
Residents of Khartoum have spoken of fear and panic, and reported gunfire and explosions.
“We’re scared, we haven’t slept for 24 hours because of the noise and the house shaking,” Huda, a Khartoum resident, told the Reuters news agency. “We’re worried about running out of water and food, and medicine for my diabetic father.”
Another Khartoum resident, Kholood Khair, told the BBC that residents could not be sure of safety anywhere. “All civilians have been urged to stay at home, but that has not kept everyone safe.”
The fighting is between army units loyal to the de facto leader, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, a notorious paramilitary force commanded by Sudan’s deputy leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.
The major sticking points are over the plans to incorporate the 100,000-strong RSF into the army, and over who would then lead the new force.
