KHARTUM, Sudan (AP) — The Sudanese armed forces and powerful militias have fought fiercely in the capital and elsewhere, dealing a fresh blow to hopes for a democratic transition and raising fears of a broader conflict. The Syndicate of Doctors said on Sunday that the death toll had risen to 56, with at least 595 injured.
The clashes culminated in months of heightened tensions between the military and their partner-turned-rival, the Rapid Support Forces group. These tensions have delayed a deal with political parties to return the country to its short-lived transition to democracy, which was thwarted by a military coup in October 2021.
Chaotic scenes unfolded in the capital, Khartoum, as fighters firing truck-mounted machine guns fought in densely populated neighborhoods. “There are fires and explosions everywhere,” said Amal Mohamed, a doctor at the state hospital in Omdurman. “We have never seen such battles in Khartoum,” said Abdel-Hamid Mustafa, a local resident.
By the end of the day, the military issued a statement excluding the possibility of negotiations with the RSF, instead calling for the disbandment of what they called the “mutinous militias”. The head of the paramilitary group, in turn, branded the commander in chief of the armed forces a “criminal.” The harsh language signaled that the conflict between the former allies who jointly orchestrated the 2021 coup was likely to continue.
Meanwhile, diplomatic pressure appears to have been mounting. Senior diplomats, including the US Secretary of State, the UN Secretary General, the EU foreign policy chief, the head of the Arab League and the head of the African Union Commission, called on the parties to stop fighting.
Arab states interested in Sudan – Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – also called for a ceasefire and a return of both sides to negotiations.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he consulted with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. “We agreed that the parties need to immediately cease hostilities without preconditions,” he said in a statement early Sunday morning.
The fighting comes after months of escalating tensions between the commander of the Sudanese armed forces, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the SRB, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. It also followed years of political unrest following the 2021 coup.
Recent tensions have arisen over disagreements over how the RSF, led by Dagalo, should be integrated into the military and which body should oversee this process. The merger is a key condition of Sudan’s unsigned transition agreement with political groups.
Fighting broke out early Saturday morning. The two sides exchanged accusations over who started it, as well as making rival claims over who controlled strategic installations around the capital.
By early Sunday, at least 56 people had been killed and at least 595 injured in Sudan.
The Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate said at least six deaths were reported in the capital, Khartoum, and its sister city, Omdurman, and eight more near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur province in the southwest.
The syndicate said the number of casualties was likely higher, and many of them are believed to be still uncounted in the western region of Darfur and the northern city of Merow.
The military said in a statement late Saturday that their troops had taken over all RSF bases in Omdurman, while residents reported massive airstrikes against paramilitary positions in and around the capital that continued into the night. After dark, they said, the sounds of gunshots and explosions could still be heard in several parts of Khartoum.
One of the hotspots was the Khartoum International Airport. There has been no official announcement of the airport’s closure, but major airlines have suspended their flights.
Saudi Arabia’s national airline said one of its planes was involved in an “accident”. The video shows the plane on fire on the runway. Apparently, another plane caught fire. Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 identified it as a Boeing 737 of the Ukrainian airline SkyUp. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A team of doctors reported that two civilians had died at the airport.
Armed Forces Commander Burhan told Qatar-based satellite news network Al Jazeera that the day began with RSF troops “chasing” the military south of Khartoum, sparking clashes. He said RSF fighters entered Khartoum airport and set fire to several planes.
He said that all strategic sites, including the headquarters of the armed forces and the Republican Palace, the residence of the President of Sudan, are under the control of his forces. He threatened to send additional troops to Khartoum.
Dagalo blamed Burhan for starting the fight by surrounding the RSF troops. “This criminal forced this battle on us,” he said.
Dagalo told Al Jazeera that he believes the fighting will end “in the next few days”.
The SRB claimed that their forces controlled strategic installations in Khartoum and the northern city of Merov, about 350 km (215 miles) northwest of the capital. The military dismissed these claims as “false”.
Clashes also took place in other parts of the country, including the northern province, the conflict-ravaged region of Darfur and the strategic Red Sea coastal city of Port Sudan, a military official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to inform the media.
Pro-democracy activists accused Burhan and Dagalo of mistreating protesters across the district over the past four years, including the deadly destruction of a protest camp near the military headquarters in Khartoum in June 2019 that killed more than 120 protesters. Many groups repeatedly called for them to be held accountable. The RSF has long been accused of atrocities linked to the conflict in Darfur.
Former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, who was ousted in a 2021 coup, has warned of possible regional conflict if fighting escalates. “The shooting must stop immediately,” he said in a video message to both sides posted on his Twitter account.
Cameron Hudson, a senior think-tank at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former U.S. diplomat, said the fighting could get wider and longer and urged the United States to form a coalition of countries in the region to put pressure on military leaders. and RSF for de-escalation.
Volker Perthes, the UN envoy to Sudan, and Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Sudan Ali bin Hassan Jaffar have been in touch with Dagalo and Burhan to try to end the violence, said a UN official who asked not to be named to discuss internal discussions.
Chad has announced that it is closing its land borders with Sudan.
Associated Press contributors Sami Magdy of Cairo and John Gambrell of Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this report.
