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THREE SUDANESE CIVILIANS have been killed as fighting raged between the regular army and paramilitaries in Khartoum and other cities, the doctors’ union said.
In a statement on Facebook, the medics said “two people were killed in Khartoum airport” and another person was killed in El Obeid, in North Kordofan state, south of the capital.
It added that at least nine other people were wounded in the clashes, including an army officer in Khartoum’s sister city of Omdurman.
The eruption of violence came after weeks of deepening tensions between military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his number two, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, over the planned integration of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the regular army.
The paramilitaries said they were in control of the presidential place as well as Khartoum airport, claims denied by the army, as civilian leaders called for an immediate ceasefire to prevent the country’s “total collapse”.
Witnesses reported “confrontations” and loud explosions and gunfire near an RSF base in south Khartoum.
Military leader Burhan has been at loggerheads with his number two, the RSF commander, over talks to finalise a deal to return the country to civilian rule and end the crisis sparked by their 2021 coup.
The RSF said its forces had taken control of Khartoum airport, after witnesses reported seeing truckloads of fighters entering the airport compound, as well as the presidential palace and other key sites.
Its claims were quickly denied by the army.
Rapid Support Forces are now Confirmed to be inside of Khartoum International Airport in the Capital of Sudan. pic.twitter.com/dPeaCgyxR5
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 15, 2023
“The army headquarters, Khartoum airport, and Merowe base are under full control of the Sudanese army,” an army statement said.
“The rebellious Rapid Support Forces are spreading lies that our forces attacked them to cover up their rebellious behaviour.”
RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has vowed that his fighters will keep on fighting until “all army bases are captured.”
“We will not stop fighting until we capture all the army bases and the honourable members of the armed forces join us,” Daglo told Al Jazeera.
The head of the United Nations mission in Sudan has called for an “immediate” end to fighting between the regular army and paramilitaries.
UNITAMS chief Volker Perthes “strongly condemns the eruption of fighting in Sudan,” it said in a statement.
“Perthes has reached out to both parties asking them for an immediate cessation of fighting to ensure the safety of the Sudanese people and to spare the country from further violence.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he is “deeply concerned” about the escalating violence in Sudan.
“We are in touch with the Embassy team in Khartoum – all are currently accounted for. We urge all actors to stop the violence immediately and avoid further escalations or troop mobilizations and continue talks to resolve outstanding issues,” he said in a tweet.
The US Ambassador to Sudan has also called for an end to the fighting.
Escalation of tensions within the military component to direct fighting is extremely dangerous. I urgently call on senior military leaders to stop the fighting. (2/2)
— John Godfrey (@USAMBSudan) April 15, 2023
In a tweet, John Godfrey said that he was sheltering in the country’s US embassy in Khartoum amidst the fighting.
“I just arrived late last night in Khartoum and woke up to the deeply disturbing sounds of gunfire and fighting. I am currently sheltering in place with the Embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing,” he wrote.
“Escalation of tensions within the military component to direct fighting is extremely dangerous. I urgently call on senior military leaders to stop the fighting.”
Created in 2013, the RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then president Omar al-Bashir unleashed against non-Arab ethnic minorities in the western Darfur region a decade earlier, drawing accusations of war crimes.
A plan to integrate the RSF into the regular army is one of the key points of contention, analysts have said.
Eleventh-hour haggling between the two men over the details has twice forced postponement of the signing of an agreement with civilian factions setting out a roadmap for the transition.
AFP reporters heard gunfire near the airport, as well near Burhan’s residence and in Khartoum North. Civilians were seen running for cover as artillery exchanges rocked the streets.
Fighter jets were seen patrolling the skies over Khartoum, witnesses said.
The army said: “The air force is now carrying out… operations to quell the irresponsible actions by the Rapid Support Forces militia..”
The two sides traded blame for starting the fighting.
“The Rapid Support Forces were surprised Saturday with a large force from the army entering camps in Soba in Khartoum and laying siege to paramilitaries there,” it said in a statement.
It said a “sweeping attack with all kinds of heavy and light weapons” was under way.
The army said the paramilitaries started the heavy fighting.
“Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces attacked several army camps in Khartoum and elsewhere around Sudan,” army spokesman Brigadier General Nabil Abdallah told AFP.
“Clashes are ongoing and the army is carrying out its duty to safeguard the country.”
Troops blocked off the bridges across the Nile linking Khartoum with its sister cities of Omdurman and Khartoum North. They also sealed off the road to the presidential palace.
The military’s civilian interlocutors called on both sides “to immediately cease hostilities and spare the country slipping into the abyss of total collapse.”
Their plea was echoed by US ambassador John Godfrey, who tweeted that he “woke up to the deeply disturbing sounds of gunfire and fighting” and was “currently sheltering in place with the embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing”.
“Escalation of tensions within the military component to direct fighting is extremely dangerous. I urgently call on senior military leaders to stop the fighting,” he said.
Western governments had been warning of the dangers of all-out fighting between the rival security forces since the army issued its warning to the paramilitaries on Thursday.
Five Western governments plus the European Union said they were “deeply concerned by reports of heightened tensions in Sudan and risk of escalation between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.”
In its statement Thursday, the regular army said it was “sounding the alarm as the country is at a dangerous historical turning point”.
“The risks are increasing as the RSF command mobilised and spread forces in the capital and other cities,” the army said.
In recent months, Daglo has said the 2021 coup was a “mistake” that failed to bring about change in Sudan and reinvigorated remnants of Bashir’s regime, which was ousted by the army in 2019 following month of mass protests.
Burhan, a career soldier from northern Sudan who rose the ranks under Bashir’s three-decade rule, maintained that the coup was “necessary” to bring more groups into the political process.
“Always two there are, no more, no less: a master and an apprentice.”
Some of the comments are just idiotic. This is a hugely important historic meeting. Irregardless of your religious standpoint, the leader of the catholic church is a major political powerhouse. This will go down in history and its importance shouldn’t be underestimated.
Catholic Church irrelevant in most people’s lives even Catholics don’t follow it’s rules especially where it don’t suit their lifestyles contraception being just one example .
Maybe in this Bill, but therin is the problem. We think we are so important in this country. Catholic church still massively influential all around world. Even in this country once you leave the pale their influence increases.
*regardless
@ pol, yes, I grant you that the Pope is a political powerhouse, a position of pomp, privilege and immense power but it is certainly not a Christian office or ever performed as such.
What’s the opinion from this political powerhouse on the financial stability in the eurozone?
It’s not just in Ireland that catholic teaching is ignored by catholics though. All over Europe it’s the same. Even in his native South America/ Argentina the church is an irrelevance
Not the first time two Popes have met. Poor old Pope Formosus’s remains were dug up and placed on a chair so that he could face Pope Stephen V1 in the fmous Cadaver Synod. The corpse was even dressed in Papal vestments for the occasion.
Don’t know why the red thumbs just for stating a fact.
Facts don’t sit well with the religious.
The are gonna try to sort out which of them is gonna be inflammable .
I dunno what the average age most posters here are. I am guessing mid 20′s which would mean all they have heard in relation to Catholics are child abuse allegations and cover ups.
Well i am in my early 40′s. My childhood memories are all good thank God. Going to Mass with my Dad, off to the shops for sweets after. Saying family Rosary and getting the giggles. Singing in the choir. Singing for Pope John Paul at the youth mass in Galway and it was cool to be Catholic.
The Church is in a bad state now i know and it has no one to blame but itself and its dishonesty. I am utterly disgusted and ashamed.
I just wanted to let people know that being a Catholic has been positive for me and my family. Not all stories are negative. Its just something for people to ponder about.
I think Pope Benedict has done the right thing by retiring. I pray to God that Pope Francis can inspire people to explore their spiritual side and show the young people the love and compassion of God and return to a different church. I am very proud of him so far.
Well excuse me! The family rosary is no giggling matter.
The sweets were bad for you and were an incentive to you just as a large financial donation to a politician is an incentive to make the right decision.
Ahhh, I fell so nostalgic for the old Ireland and the love of children by the clergy.
Everything in the garden was rosy but nostalgia is not what it used to be.
I’m rapidly approaching my 30s Deirdre though a lot of what you say resonates with me too. I grew up respecting our local priests but it wasn’t the scandals that put me off catholicism because I know abuse happens in all religions and in non religious organisations. It was the arrogant response. The cover ups, lies, denials etc. Nothing at all in the church hierarchy response to it all showed any christianity at all. I’m still a spiritual person but I’m quite content to explore my own path to God now outside of church buildings
Peter. I am very aware that things were not so rosy in Ireland
Ireland was shit in the 70′s. School was a nightmare. Teachers beat the shit out of u. U were given a dunce hat if u got a question wrong. Paedophilles in the street were referred to as dirty old men and no one ever reported them. The ignorance back then is astounding.
I am delighted things have changed esp re the Church.
Our parents generation were silent on a lot of things. Much the same as my generation now. People in massive debt getting screwed by the banks and government alike. And what are we doing about? Not much. In fact we letting em screw us.
So before we judge the previous generation, we should look at our own.
Dean. I agree with all of what u say. The Churches response was more sinful than the abuse itself. I hope that Pope francis can make the church a more humble church and try to make good the harm it had done. Its a long road.
I am pleased to hear u are still a spiritual person despite everything.
Keep the faith….
Well, for the record Deirdre, I’m in my mid-30s. I’m not an atheist because of church scandal. I’m an atheist because I don’t believe in any gods.
I parted with religious irrationality at the age of 14.
If there were no child abuse cover-ups implemented by the church, I’d still be speaking out against the indoctrination of children, the abuses of filling a child with guilt, telling them they’ll go to hell if they’re bad and generally lying to them about the nature of reality.
With or without the abuse, the church is not a force for good.
I cant understand it. If Benedict got a calling from God, how can he just suddenly pack it all in, just like a supermaket job!
Also, how was he infalllible and then suddenly he wasnt fallible
It’s like jazz music, they make it up as they go along.
… or like the plots in Fair City!
The thumbnail looks like a weigh in before a boxing match.. c’mon franky hup hoy
Yes an “encounter” alright…..
I got you a present. Soap on a rope pope.
Lets get ready to ruuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmble !
God is outnumbered.
Add Bono, the trio of two popes and Bono, and God will have to pay obeisance.
Arghhhh! Two popes! Say it is not so. One is bad enough!
Such a momentous occasion,maybe the big man up stairs will even show up for it.
George Hook?
No the TMO :)
It would make a wonderful photo for doing the speech bubble over them. One is asking the other a question. Guess what the question is?
” Do you love children?”
What’s this infallibility shit ?
@ Slugger, liking it!
Francis – what of the reports of the rebel fleet?
Benny- it is of no concern, soon the rebellion will be crushed.
@Peter, that made me laugh.
Two for the price of one.
Bogof.
You’re a weirdo
@ Terry, thanks. You make a good argument, nice use of reasoning. Chuckling!
Are you hey gonna swap Primary school numbers?
Wonder pope powers activate….
Perfect grenadier opportunity.
A conclave of Cardinals. A pairing of Popes. But there is only one Bono.
I’ve got a great feeling about this new Pope
Are they*
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