In this frame grab from a video posted by Sudan’s state news agency, SUNA on 13 April, 2023, spokesman for the Sudanese Armed Forces Brig. Nabil Abdullah reads a statement warning of conflict after the recent deployment of Sudan’s powerful paramilitary in the capital and other cities. AP
Khartoum, Sudan: As tensions between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as the paramilitary is known, have escalated in recent months, the RSF on Saturday accused the army of attacking its forces at one of its bases in South Khartoum.
According to reports, sustained firing broke out at one of its bases in the Sudanese capital on Saturday morning and the sound could be heard in a number of areas, including central Khartoum and neighboring Bahri.
The army and the paramilitary are at odds about how the RSF, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, should be incorporated into the military and who should be in charge of overseeing the process. A crucial requirement of the transition agreement for Sudan is the merger.
The recent clashes have forced a delay in the signing of an internationally-backed deal with political parties to revive the country’s democratic transition.
In a statement issued Saturday morning, the RSF said that the military used light and heavy weapons in the attack. The army has so far not commented on the incident.
Commercial aircraft trying to land in the capital, Khartoum, began turning around to head back to their originating airport. Flights from Saudi Arabia turned back after nearly landing at Khartoum International Airport, flight tracking data showed Saturday.
Apart from the recent faceoff, the army-RSF rivalry dates back to the rule of autocratic President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019. Under the former president, the paramilitary force grew out of former militias known as the Janjaweed that carried out a brutal crackdown in Sudan’s Darfur region during the decades of conflict there.
In a rare televised speech Thursday, a top army general warned of potential clashes with paramilitary force, accusing it of deploying forces in Khartoum and other areas of Sudan without the army’s consent. The RSF defended the presence of its forces in an earlier statement.
The RSF recently deployed troops near the northern Sudanese town of Merowe. Also, videos circulating on social media Thursday show what appear to be RSF-armed vehicles being transported into Khartoum, farther to the south.
In Saturday’s statement, the RSF said they were contacted by three former rebel leaders, who hold government positions, in an apparent bid to de-escalate the conflict.
Sudan has been married in turmoil since October 2021 Western-backed, power-sharing administration and dashed Sudanese aspirations for democratic rule after three decades of autocracy and repression under al-Bashir.
With inputs from agencies
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