Heavy clashes renew between Sudanese rivals in Khartoum

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Armed clashes fiercely renewed on Thursday morning between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary forces in several areas in the capital Khartoum.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that clashes were heard near the presidential palace and the Sudanese Army General Command in central Khartoum.

In a statement, the Sudanese army said its forces clashed with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who tried to attack the army's command in Khartoum's adjoining city of Bahri.

The statement added that the army inflicted heavy losses and causalities among RSF, forcing them to retreat.

Meanwhile, the RSF blamed the Sudanese army for the clashes, and accused it of violating the cease-fire and for attacking its residential neighborhoods with artillery and aircraft in what it described as a "cowardly manner."

On Tuesday, the government of South Sudan announced that the two rival generals in Sudan – army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo – agreed on a seven-day cease-fire that starts as of Thursday.

Since the start of the clashes on April 15, more than 550 people have been killed along with more than 5,000 injured others, according to statements by the Sudanese Health Ministry.

A disagreement has been fomenting in recent months between the army and the paramilitary force over RSF integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a “coup.”

Sudan’s transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, was scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar