sudan, April 16: A power struggle between Sudan’s army and a notorious paramilitary force has rocked the country, with 27 reported dead and hundreds injured. Residents dodged gunfire in the capital, Khartoum, as rival forces battled over the presidential palace, state TV, and army headquarters.
Among the dead were three UN workers, who were shot after the two sides exchanged gunfire at a military base.The clashes erupted after tensions over a proposed transition to civilian rule.Both the army and its opponents, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), claimed they had control of the airport and other key sites in Khartoum, where fighting continued overnight.
Violence was also reported elsewhere in the country, including in cities in the Darfur region.The army said jets were hitting RSF bases, and the country’s air force told people to remain in their homes on Saturday night while it conducted a full aerial survey of paramilitary activity.
So much panic and fear’
In Khartoum, people were filmed running away and taking cover as black smoke rose over the city.A Reuters journalist said there were armoured vehicles in the streets, while video showed a civilian plane ablaze at Khartoum airport. Saudi airline Saudia said one of its Airbuses came under fire.Saudia and EgyptAir have suspended flights to Khartoum and neighbouring Chad has closed its border with Sudan.Residents of Khartoum told the BBC of their panic and fear, with one describing bullets being fired at the house next door.At least 27 people have been killed and about 200 others were injured in the violence, a Sudanese doctors’ union said.
It said it did not know how many of the casualties were civilians. Earlier, the union said three civilians had been confirmed dead.Three employees for the World Food Programme (WFP), a UN body that delivers food assistance to vulnerable communities, were killed after the RSF and armed forces exchanged fire at a military base in Kabkabiya, in the west of the country.Two other staff members were seriously injured, and the RSF looted several WFP vehicles.
Top Sudan military figure says coup was a mistake
Earlier, the RSF had said that one of its camps in the south of Khartoum had been attacked. And on Saturday evening, Reuters reported that the army launched airstrikes on an RSF base in the north-west of the city, citing eyewitnesses.The army has said that RSF fighters have been attacking army camps and trying to seize the military headquarters.”Clashes are ongoing and the army is carrying out its duty to safeguard the country,” the AFP news agency quoted army spokesman Brig Gen Nabil Abdallah as saying. Source-BBC
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