Sudan was rocked on Saturday by violence between paramilitaries and the country’s army. The paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claims to have captured the presidential palace and the country’s largest airport.
The violence follows weeks of rising tensions between army chief and president Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and his number two, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Dagalo, better known in Sudan as Hemedti, is the head of the RSF paramilitary group.
Burhan and Hemedti are in conflict over the integration of the RSF into the regular army. This merger is an important condition for the transition to civilian government. Now the army is still in power in Sudan.
Tensions escalated further on Thursday when the army accused the RSF of mobilizing troops. Paramilitaries are said to have been placed in strategic places.
Those tensions turned violent on Saturday. According to news agency Reuters there was fighting in several places in the capital Khartoum. The paramilitaries claim to have captured the presidential palace and the airport. Airports in cities outside Khartoum were also reportedly seized. The Sudanese air force says it is carrying out strikes.
Burhan and Hemedti traveled together
During a military coup in October 2021, Burhan and Hemedti still worked together, but Hemedti gradually distanced himself from the army chief and president.
In recent months, Hemedti has repeatedly said that the 2021 coup was a mistake that did not bring about change in Sudan. On the contrary, it would breathe new life into the remnants of Omar Al Bashir’s regime. Bashir was deposed in 2019 after a popular uprising.
The Ministry calls on Dutch people in Sudan to stay indoors
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on Dutch people in Sudan to stay indoors in all cases and not to take to the streets.
The Russian and US ambassadors to Sudan have called for an end to the violence.
