In and around the capital, Khartoum, fighting is ongoing between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Three civilians have been killed in the fighting, the medical association in the country claims to AFP. The fighting started near the army headquarters and the Ministry of Defense, as well as the bases of the RSF in Khartoum, but later the fighting spread to the presidential palace and the airports. The fight is about power and influence in a new future government for Sudan. Fierce fighting has taken place between the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSD) and Sudan’s army. RSF says it has now taken control of the presidential palace, the residence of army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhannoe. This is refuted by the army. The army says on Saturday morning that it has deployed its air force to fight back the paramilitary group, says an official statement. During a TV broadcast on Sudan’s state TV channel, it was said that fighting is also going on outside the channel’s headquarters. The TV viewers could hear shooting in the background. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has implemented security measures International diplomats, including people from the American embassy, have sought cover in bomb shelters. The army has deployed soldiers in Khartoum on 15 April. Photo: – / AFP At the same time, the British embassy has asked its compatriots to stay indoors. Norway has done the same and asks Norwegian citizens to contact their home and Foreign Affairs if they need assistance. – The situation is unclear and we are working to get an overview, including investigating whether Norwegian citizens are affected beyond those already registered with the embassy. In this phase, our main priority is to look after our employees and Norwegian citizens. We keep in close contact with the Norwegian employees at the embassy in Khartoum, writes spokeswoman Ane Lunde in the Foreign Ministry to news. Supposed to have taken control of the airports The paramilitary group has taken control of the Al Obeid and Merowe airports. This too is rejected by the army in the country. Thick smoke over the capital Khartoum in Sudan where fighting is going on between the government army and a paramilitary group. Photo: – / AFP The RSF also says that it has taken control of the army’s military base in Merowe. Eyewitnesses tell the news agency Reuters that smoke is coming from several places and that there are many soldiers out in the streets. The RSF says the army surrounded their bases and opened fire with heavy weapons, while the Sudanese army claims it was the RSF that first attacked their bases in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. – Extremely dangerous The fighting takes place after several days of increased tension in Sudan between the paramilitary group RSF, which is led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti. Spokesman for Sudan’s army, Nabil Abdullah warned of armed conflict with the paramilitary group RSF on Thursday 13 April Photo: SUNA / AP – Fighters from the RSF have attacked several military camps in Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan. The fighting is ongoing, and the army is doing its duty to secure the country, says the army’s spokesman, Brigadier Nabil Abdallah, to the AFP news agency. Cannons and armored vehicles have been rolled out into the streets. In Khartoum’s neighboring town of Omdurman, artillery and tanks are to be deployed. The fighting is said to have spread to North Darfur in El Fasher, A spokesman for the RSF says that the army’s attack is brutal and must be condemned. Both the UN and the EU are asking the military leaders to stop the fighting. – The situation in Sudan is fragile, but there is still an opportunity for a peaceful transition to a civilian-led government, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when he was asked about the riots during a visit to Hanoi in Vietnam on Saturday. Dispute over government formation The country’s military leaders took power in Sudan in a coup in October 2021. The intention was that agreements should be made with, among other things, democracy groups in the country to introduce a civilian government. Disagreements between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary group mean that an agreement to install a civilian transitional government in the country has been postponed. A soldier from the RSF poses with a weapon. There has long been increased tension between the RSF and the government army in Sudan. Photo: Hussein Malla / AP The disagreement centers on the powerful paramilitary force RSF, which they want to integrate into the Sudanese defence. Leader Hemdti in the RSF has stood at the head of a transition to democratic rule, which is said to have upset military leaders in the country, who have mobilized their forces in Khartoum. Economic power struggle Sudan expert Gunnar M. Sørbø tells NTB that it is difficult to say how this will end and that the conflict is a typical power struggle between those who have weapons in the country. There are also many financial interests at stake. RSF is a powerful financial institution, says Sørbø to NTB. – Among the population, the leader of the RSF has had increasing support because he has come out the strongest and said that they must get a civilian government. He has been a kind of guarantor for that to happen, while the coup leader from 2021 has been felt to have been forced into it by external pressure, says Sørbø, who is a professor at the Christian Michelsen Institute. Fact about RSF * A paramilitary group that was founded in August 2013 and fought on behalf of Sudan in Darfur. * Is accused of several war crimes in Darfur, including the murder and rape of civilians and the burning of civilian houses. According to Human Rights Watch, RSF’s actions in Darfur qualify as crimes against humanity. * Has been a supporter of the military junta that has seized power in the country, and negotiations were underway for the group to be incorporated into the regular army * The group’s Arabic name can be translated directly to rapid support forces, or as they are called in English: Rapid Support Forces (RSF ). * The group is led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, called Hemetti. * The group has also fought in Libya and Yemen. * Hemetti is one of the richest people in Sudan after taking control of gold mines in Darfur, which he is accused of using the RSF to do. (NTB) Military coup The agreement between the military and the pro-democracy groups, which include the RSF, is necessary to restore a civilian government in Sudan. In 2019, the dictator Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by the military after three decades, as a result of a major popular uprising. A civilian transitional government was then introduced with great international support, but this was overthrown by the military in a coup as early as October 2021. RSF supported this, and wants talks about becoming part of that military in a transitional government. A confrontation between the two forces could lead to a bitter and protracted dispute in a country already threatened by economic collapse and flare-ups of tribal violence.
ttn-69