Clashes between army and paramilitaries in Sudan have left 27 dead

The capital of Sudan, Khartoum, was seen Saturday night rocked by several explosions and shots, after a day of street fighting, airstrikes between paramilitaries and the regular army killing at least 27 and injuring more than 100.

“A first count of the unfortunate events on Saturday (…) left 27 dead,” some of them said in Khartoum, the medical union said in a statement.

About 170 others were injured in the clashes that erupted on Saturday and spread into the early hours of Sunday, the union added.

In the capital, smoke could be seen above the paramilitary barracks and the international airport.

General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo’s Rapid Support Forces (FAR) paramilitary group, also known as “Hemedti”, announced the seizure of the international airport and the presidential palace on Saturday morning, calling on the population and soldiers to riot. the army.

The FAR paramilitaries “will not stop until they take control of all military bases,” Hemedti threatened in a phone call to the Qatari news network Al-Jazeera.

Facing him, the regular army, led by General Abdel Fatah al Burhan, de facto leader of Sudan since the October 25, 2021 coup, announced that it had mobilized the air force against “the enemy”.

The military denied that the FAR had taken over the international airport and assured that some paramilitaries “infiltrated and set fire to civilian aircraft, including one from Saudi Airlines”, an incident confirmed by Riyadh. The company specified that one of its aircraft was damaged by gunfire at Khartoum airport.

Overnight, Hemedti reiterated on the Emirati Sky News Arabia network that he was “forced” to perform. “We are not the ones who started it,” he insisted, urging General Al Burhan to “surrender.”

For its part, the army published a “wanted message” against Hemedti on its Facebook page. “This escaped criminal is wanted by the judiciary,” reads the message, accompanied by a photo montage.

Calls for moderation

According to witnesses, both sides also clash over control of the state media. The television signal seems to have stopped.

The residents of Khartoum are barricaded in their homes. “Like all Sudanese, we are under shelter,” US Ambassador John Godfrey wrote on Twitter.

“I appeal to the military high command to stop the fighting immediately,” he added.

To the ceasefire calls emanating from the UN, the United States, Russia, France, Italy, Brazil, the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union and even former civilian Prime Minister Abdalá Hamdok , was not answered.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, through his spokesman, warned that an “escalation of the conflict will have a devastating impact on civilians and further exacerbate the already precarious humanitarian situation in the country”.

The Arab League will meet urgently on Sunday at the request of Egypt and Saudi Arabia to discuss the situation in Sudan.

now rivals

During the 2021 coup Hemedti and Burhan had joined forces to oust civilians from power. But over time, the disagreements between the two men grew until they degenerated into violence.

Hemedti, who recently sided with civilians and thus against the military in political negotiations, called his former ally and now rival a “criminal who has destroyed the country” and told Al-Jazeera in Qatar that his men “will not stop until they take control of all military bases.”

The FAR, which the Ex-militias from the war in Darfur say they were surprised in the morning by the arrival of a large contingent of the army besieging their camp in Soba. in the south of Khartoum, which “attacked them with all kinds of heavy and light weapons”.

The regular army denounced “lies” and accused the FAR of starting the hostilities.

“The fighting started when the FAR attacked army bases in Khartoum and other places in Sudan,” General Nabil Abdallah, an army spokesman, told AFP. The army “fulfills its duty to protect the homeland,” he added.

The differences of opinion between the two sides mainly focus on the future of the paramilitaries and their integration into the armed forces.

Although the army does not reject their integration, it wants to impose conditions on them and limit their conscription in time.

General Daglo demands wide acceptance and, above all, a position for him in the General Staff.

This dispute blocks the democratic transition that the international community is demanding to resume its aid to Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world.