Fighting erupts between Sudan’s army and rival force

| April 16, 2023

Sudan’s military and a powerful paramilitary force are engaged in fierce battles in the capital and other areas, reportedly causing deaths and injuries while raising fears of a wider conflict.

A doctors’ group says at least 27 people had been killed and more than 180 wounded. But the Sudan Doctor’s Syndicate added there are many uncounted casualties, in the western Darfur region and the northern town of Merowe.

The clashes capped months of heightened tensions between the country’s armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces group. Those tensions had delayed a deal with political parties to get the country back to its short-lived transition to democracy, which was derailed by an October 2021 military coup.

After a day of heavy fighting, the military ruled out negotiations with the RSF, instead calling for the dismantling of what it called a “rebellious militia.” The tough language signalled that the conflict between the former allies, who jointly orchestrated the 2021 coup, was likely to continue.

The sound of heavy firing could be heard throughout the day across the neighbourhoods in and near the capital, where the military and the RSF had massed tens of thousands of troops since the coup.

Witnesses said fighters from both sides fired from armoured vehicles and machine guns mounted on pick-up trucks in densely populated areas. 

One of the flashpoints was Khartoum International Airport, with international airlines cancelling flights. Saudi Arabia’s national airline said one of its aircraft was involved in what it called “an accident.” Video showed the plane on fire on the tarmac. Another plane also appeared to have caught fire. Flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 identified it as a Boeing 737 for SkyUp, a Kyiv, Ukraine-based airline. 

The leaders of the armed forces and the RSF traded blame over who started the fighting and offered conflicting accounts of who was in control of key installations.

General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, commander of Sudan’s military, told news network Al Jazeera that RSF troops first “harassed” the military south of Khartoum, triggering the clashes.

Burhan said all strategic facilities including the military’s headquarters and the Republican palace, the seat of Sudan’s presidency, are under his forces’ control. He threatened to deploy more troops to Khartoum.

The head of the RSF, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, accused Burhan of starting the battle by surrounding RSF troops. “This criminal, he forced this battle upon us,” he said.

The RSF alleged its forces controlled strategic locations in Khartoum and the northern city of Merowe some 350 kilometres northwest of the capital. The military dismissed the claims as “lies.”

Pro-democracy activists have blamed Burhan and Dagalo for abuses against protesters across the county over the past four years, including the deadly break-up of a protest camp outside the military’s headquarters in Khartoum in June 2019 that killed over 120 protesters. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats have expressed extreme concern over the outbreak of violence. “We urge all actors to stop the violence immediately and avoid further escalations or troop mobilisations and continue talks to resolve outstanding issues,” Blinken wrote on Twitter.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell; the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat; the Arab League chief, Ahmed Aboul Gheit; and Qatar all called for a ceasefire and for both parties to return to negotiations. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates called on those fighting in Sudan to exercise restraint and work toward a political solution.