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At least three civilians dead amid military clashes in Sudan’s capital At least five killed amid clashes between rival military factions in Sudan’s capital
(about 3 hours later)
Paramilitary group reports seizing control of presidential palace, army chief’s home and Khartoum airportParamilitary group reports seizing control of presidential palace, army chief’s home and Khartoum airport
Fighting in Sudan’s capital – latest updatesFighting in Sudan’s capital – latest updates
At least three civilians have died during clashes between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan, a Sudanese doctors’ group has said. Sudan was plunged into a long-feared violent crisis on Saturday as a bitter struggle for power appeared to break out between the two main factions of the ruling military regime.
Heavy gunfire was heard in the capital Khartoum, on Saturday as fighting erupted between the Sudanese army and the RSF following days of tensions between the two forces. At least five people were reported to have been killed in Khartoum, the capital of the vast and strategic east African country, on Saturday and more in northern Darfur state during heavy fighting between Sudan armed forces, the regular military, and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Force (RSF), according to Sudan Doctor’s Committee, a local NGO. The death toll is expected to rise.
The RSF claimed it had gained control of Khartoum international airport, Merowe airport, al-Obeid airport and the presidential palace, after an attack on its military base in south Khartoum at about 9am on Saturday. The fighting threatens to destabilise not just Sudan but much of the region, as well as exacerbating a battle for influence that involves major Gulf powers as well as the US, EU and Russia. Sudanese armed forces, are broadly loyal to Abdulfatah al-Burhan, the current de facto ruler of Sudan, while the RSF, a collection of militia follow the controversial former warlord Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemdti.
Clashes were also taking place at the headquarters of Sudan’s state TV, an anchor who appeared on screen said. “It’s calmed down a bit but does not feel like it is just going to peter out. They started shooting in the early hours and I thought this still could be skirmishes but then the air force got involved and both commanders went on television and did not use language that indicated they wanted to find a peaceful solution,” said Kholood Khair, an analyst in Khartoum.
In a statement reported by Reuters, the Sudan Doctors’ Committee said two civilians were killed at Khartoum international airport and another man was shot dead in the state of North Kordofan. It said dozens more were injured around the country, with some in an unstable condition. “There’s a lot of war propaganda and misinformation on both sides … but a lot of countries in the region see this in terms of an endgame military with Sudanese armed forces outgunning the RSF. Hemdti may also have overestimated his popular support. People in Sudan want to see democracy but don’t believe that either of these actors are going to bring it,” she said.
Khartoum airport has shut down, with clips circulating on social media showing the RSF storming the building. “It may well be a fight to the end and neither will come out unscathed.”
Eissa Zain, 37, told the Guardian that while sleeping at home in Khartoum’s Daim neighbourhood “something very hard hit the wall and I thought the fan had fallen down but it turned out to be an RPG [rocked propelled grenade]. We ran out of the house and the streets were full of people, but then everyone went inside their houses.” Hemdti told the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera Arabic network that Genl Burhan was “a liar” who would be brought “to justice like a dog”.
The Sudan air force has been flying over Khartoum peninsula (Omdurman, Khartoum North and Khartoum City), and the Sudanese armed forces issued a statement saying they were using the air force to “stop the irresponsible behaviour of the RSF”. The struggle for power has its roots in the years before the 2019 uprising that ousted dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir, who built up formidable security forces which he deliberately set against each other.
Heavy gunfire could be heard in parts of Darfur, in West Darfur State, Geneina and in North Darfur’s El Fasher. When the effort to transition to a democratic civilian-led government faltered after Bashir’s fall, an eventual showdown was inevitable, with diplomats in Khartoum warning in early 2022 that they feared such an outbreak of violence. In recent weeks, tensions have risen further.
John Godfrey, the US ambassador to Sudan, said he and embassy staff had been forced to take shelter. He said the escalation of tensions to direct fighting was “extremely dangerous” and called urgently on the senior leadership to stop the clashes. Military jets could be seen flying from an airbase in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city on the other bank of the Nile, on Saturday while heavy gunfire could be heard throughout the city for much of the day.
The UK’s embassy in Sudan urged its nationals there to remain indoors. The embassy said on Twitter: “We are closely monitoring the situation in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan where there are ongoing military clashes. We advise all British nationals in Sudan to remain indoors and follow our travel advice for more updates.” “This does not feel like it will stop, unless some real heavyweights get involved in mediating a ceasefire,” said Khair.
The tensions came to the surface on Thursday when the RSF sent troops with more than 200 vehicles to surround Merowe airport in the north, where an Egyptian military base is located. The army said the movements by the RSF had been made without coordination and were illegal. Yassir al-Awad, a father of four daughters and a resident of Khartoum, told the Observer that the city was witnessing a “power struggle between military leaders”.
A statement by the RSF on Saturday called the army’s actions a “brute assault” and called for it to be condemned. It said the RSF had been in contact with local and international mediators to inform them. “The Sudanese people should not take part but sadly we have been dragged into it, as Sudanese people we do not have any interest in this. Whichever one wins, we are the losers at the end,” al-Awad said.
The dispute between the two forces began during power-sharing negotiations with the civilian forces to restore a western-backed civilian-led government. The army insisted the RSF should integrate into the army within two years, while the RSF is suggesting it should be within 10 years. Abulilah Musa, a medical student who was confined to his home on Saturday, said that he had been expecting the war since the end of the 2019 revolution.
The Sudanese Professionals Association called on people to try to protect their neighbourhoods. “What happened today is just the beginning and I won’t be surprised if this will continue for more than five years. We are entering a very bleak future.”
Osman Ali, a resident of Omdurman who works as a market vendor, said: “We feel extremely unsafe now. The leaders are fighting there but the problem is, who is going to protect us from looting or if any armed people stormed into the neighbourhoods?” Exact details of events on Saturday are unclear but reports suggest the army may have attacked a military base for the RSF in southern Khartoum in the morning, triggering firefights elsewhere in the city in subsequent hours. By noon, battles were raging around Khartoum’s international airport, in the centre of the capital, where flights were stopped after two Saudi jets were hit.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said the situation in Sudan was delicate but insisted there was still an opportunity to complete the transition to a civilian-led government. “Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces attacked several army camps in Khartoum and elsewhere around Sudan,” army spokesperson Brig Gen Nabil Abdallah told AFP.
Speaking from the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi, Blinken said the situation was “fragile” as some actors “may be pushing against that progress”. The RSF in an earlier statement claimed that they gained control of the presidential palace and the strategic al-Obyied airport in northern Kurdufan state, though the army denied this was true.
Reuters contributed to this report The paramilitary force also claimed that they had controlled the Merowe airport north of Khartoum. Media reports suggested that about 45 soldiers in Sudanese army have been injured in Merowe during heavy fighting between the two forces.
The RSF was founded by Bashir to crush the rebellion in Darfur that started against the political and economic marginalisation by central government of the people of Darfur more than 20 years ago. Their forces were also known by the name of Janjaweed, which became associated with widespread atrocities.
In 2013 Bashir transformed the Janjaweed into a semi-organised paramilitary force and gave their leaders military ranks before deploying them to crush a rebellion in South Darfur and then dispatching many to fight in the war in Yemen.
Hundreds of RSF paramilitaries were also sent to fight in Libya alongside Gen Khalifa Haftar’s army in the east.
The RSF, led by Hemdti, and regular military forces under Burhan cooperated to oust Bashir in 2019. The RSF then dispersed a peaceful sit-in in front of the military headquarters in Khartoum killing hundreds of people and raping dozens more.
A power-sharing deal with the civilians who led the protests against Bashir which was supposed to bring about a transition towards a democratic government was interrupted by a coup in October 2021. More than 100 people were killed in further protests.
Hemdti has massive wealth derived from the export of gold from illegal mines and tens of thousands of battle-hardened veterans – some bloodied in the genocidal campaigns in Darfur – under his command. He has long chafed at his position as official deputy. One particular bone of contention between the warring factions is the process of integration of the RSF into the regular armed forces.
There is a regional dynamic at play too – with major geopolitical dimensions with Russia, the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other powers battling for influence in Sudan.
Sudan’s former prime minister Abdullah Hamadouk warned that the fighting in Sudan could result in war across the whole region, and called for calm.
Awad said that “the regional influences are very obvious in this conflict, each one of them is getting supported by some countries around us, it’s not a Sudanese thing, it seems like a proxy war”.
The African Union said that “things have gone dangerously out of control” and called for an immediate end to hostilities.