2023-04-15 16:29:50
At least three civilians were killed on Saturday, April 15, in Sudan where the rivalry between soldiers and paramilitaries degenerated into street fights, air raids and threats through the media. Khartoum, the capital, woke up abruptly in the middle of the Ramadan fast and under a blazing sun, to the sound of heavy weapon fire and explosions in the four corners of the city.
Within hours, the paramilitaries of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo’s Rapid Support Forces (FSR), said « Hemedti »said they took the international airport and the presidential palace, now calling on the entire population, including the soldiers, to turn against the army.
Opposite, the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, de facto ruler of Sudan since his coup of October 25, 2021, said he had mobilized his air force against the” enemy “.
Calls to cease hostilities
In Khartoum, AFP journalists heard overflights over RSF bases as the army posted a photo of one on fire in the south of the city on its Facebook account. The two sides are also clashing near the state media headquarters, according to witnesses.
The UN, the African Union and the Arab League have called for a cessation “immediate” hostilities when the official doctors’ union announced that it had identified three civilian deaths: two in Khartoum and one in El-Obeid, in the south of the country.
“We urge all actors to immediately cease all violence”tweeted for his part the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, saying to himself “deeply concerned”. No employee of the American embassy in Khartoum is currently missing, he said.
Proxy attacks
The conflict between Generals Burhane and Daglo, latent for weeks, has now taken on a warlike tone: the army denounces a ” enemy “ and talk about “foreign-backed militia” whom she accuses of ” lies “ and of ” treason “.
Opposite, General Daglo attacked his rival on the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera. It’s a “criminal” who has “destroyed the country”, he launched. In front of him, his men “will not stop until they have taken control of all the military bases”he threatened.
During the putsch, Hemedti and Burhane formed a common front to oust civilians from power. But over time, Hemedti – many of whom are ex-militiamen trained in combat in the Darfur region (west) – has consistently denounced the coup.
Even recently, he sided with the civilians – therefore against the army in the political negotiations – blocking the discussions and therefore any solution to end the crisis in Sudan.
Heavy weapon fire
For days, the street had been buzzing with rumors of an impending guerrilla war between the two camps. On Saturday morning, Khartoum woke up to the sound of heavy and light gunfire and almost non-stop explosions.
In a few hours, the FSRs announced that they had taken Khartoum international airport, in the heart of the capital, then the presidential palace where General Burhane usually sits, as well as the palace reserved for state guests, an airport in north of the country and “other bases in different provinces”.
The army denies the capture of the airport but assures that the FSRs are there “infiltrated and set fire to civilian planes, including one from Saudi Airlines”. She also claims to always have control of the HQ of her staff.
Residents confined to their homes
For their part, the FSR call on the population to “join them” and affirm to the soldiers that they “Not targeting them, but their staff, which uses them to stay on its throne, even if it means putting the stability of the country at risk”.
Residents are confined to their homes. “Like all Sudanese, I remain sheltered”tweeted US Ambassador John Godfrey. “The escalation of tensions between soldiers to direct confrontation is extremely dangerous. I call on senior military commanders to stop fighting immediately”, he wrote again. Chancelleries and political forces claim to have been active in mediation for several days, so far without success.
Army accuses RSF of initiating hostilities by attacking army bases “in Khartoum and elsewhere”, army spokesman General Nabil Abdallah told AFP. General Burhane added in a statement to al-Jazeera that he was surprised “by an attack on (his) HQ at nine o’clock in the morning”without specifying if he was there or if he had been evacuated.
A political agreement to relaunch the democratic transition
The FSRs say they have been “surprised in the morning by the arrival of a large contingent of the army who besieged their camp in Soba”in the south of Khartoum, and “attacked with all kinds of heavy and light weapons”.
For experts, the two commanders raised the stakes as civilians and the international community try to get them to sign a political agreement supposed to relaunch the democratic transition.
The dispute between the two strong men relates to the future of the paramilitaries: the army does not refuse their integration into the regular troops but it wants to impose its conditions of admission and limit their incorporation in time. General Daglo, he wants a broad inclusion and, above all, his place within the staff.
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