{"id":416136,"date":"2023-04-15T13:28:28","date_gmt":"2023-04-15T10:28:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/?p=416136"},"modified":"2023-04-15T13:28:28","modified_gmt":"2023-04-15T10:28:28","slug":"sudan-fighting-erupts-in-khartoum-as-army-and-paramilitary-force-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/sudan-fighting-erupts-in-khartoum-as-army-and-paramilitary-force-clash\/","title":{"rendered":"Sudan: Fighting erupts in Khartoum as army and paramilitary force clash"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gunfire and explosions have been heard in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, after days of tension between a notorious paramilitary force and the country’s army.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The dispute centres around a proposed transition to civilian rule.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Reuters is reporting that gunfire has been heard close to the headquarters of the army in the centre of the city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) says it has taken control of the airport and presidential palace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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These claims have not been confirmed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Earlier the RSF had said that one of its camps in the south of Khartoum had been attacked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For its part, the army has said that RSF fighters have been trying to seize the military headquarters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces attacked several army camps in Khartoum and elsewhere around Sudan,” the AFP news agency quotes army spokesman Brig Gen Nabil Abdallah as saying.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Clashes are ongoing and the army is carrying out its duty to safeguard the country.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Reuters news agency is also citing witnesses as saying that there was gunfire in the northern city of Merowe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Alarabyia TV is broadcasting pictures of smoke rising from a military camp there, Reuters reports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Generals have been running the country, through what is called the Sovereign Council, since a coup in October 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The RSF is under the command of the council’s vice-president Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The army, meanwhile, is led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is the head of the Sovereign Council.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A proposed move to a civilian-led government has foundered on the timetable to integrate the RSF into the national army.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The RSF wanted to delay it for 10 years, but the army said it should happen in two years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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On Thursday, the RSF deployed forces near the military base in Merowe as tensions increased this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Gen Burhan said he was willing to talk to his second in command to resolve the dispute over who would lead a unified army in a proposed civilian government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Western powers and regional leaders had urged the two sides to de-escalate tensions and to go back to talks aimed at restoring civilian rule.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There had been signs on Friday that the situation would be resolved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In a tweet<\/a>, US Ambassador John Godfrey said: “I urgently call on senior military leaders to stop the fighting.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Describing the situation in the city, he said he “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.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Russia’s embassy is also concerned by the “escalation of violence” and has urged a ceasefire, Reuters reports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The 2021 coup ended a period of more than two years when military and civilian leaders were sharing power. That deal came after Sudan’s long-term authoritarian President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There have been regular pro-democracy protests in Khartoum ever since the coup.<\/p>\n

Source: BBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gunfire and explosions have been heard in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, after days of tension between a notorious paramilitary force and the country’s army. The dispute centres around a proposed transition to civilian rule. Reuters is reporting that gunfire has been heard close to the headquarters of the army in the centre of the city. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":416137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-416136","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":416138,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416136\/revisions\/416138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}