The situation in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, has been very tense since the resumption of clashes on Saturday between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, and the army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhane.
“The clashes between [l’armée soudanaise] and the RSF threaten the security and safety of Sudanese civilians.” In a tweet, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is deeply concerned about the resumption of fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (FSR) of Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, and the army, led by Abdel Fattah al – Burhane. These clashes left at least 56 civilians dead and “tens” among the security forces, as well as around 600 wounded, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, an independent and pro-democracy organization, reported on Sunday April 16.
The Rapid Support Forces, thousands of former militiamen from the Darfur war who have become army auxiliaries and who now want to dislodge it from power, have declared that they control the presidential residence, Khartoum airport and other key infrastructure.
The army has denied taking the airport, but admits that the FSRs have “burned civilian planes, including one from Saudi Airlines”, which the company confirmed. In a statement released late Saturday, the Sudanese army asked the population to stay at home as it continued its airstrikes against paramilitary bases.
Calls for a truce remained in vain
Throughout the day, calls for a ceasefire have multiplied: from the UN, Washington, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Riyadh, the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union and even the former Prime civilian minister Abdallah Hamdok. The Arab League announced an emergency meeting on Sunday on Sudan, at the request of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two major allies of the Sudanese army.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on the two belligerents, but also Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to demand “an immediate end to the violence”. The paramilitaries say they are inflexible. They “will not stop until they have taken control of all the military bases”, threatened Commander Hemedti on the Al-Jazeera channel. The latter is the subject of a wanted notice launched on the army’s Facebook page.
General Burhane, for his part, assured in a press release that he had been “surprised at 9 am” by an attack on his HQ by the FSR, his former best ally whom the army now describes as “foreign-backed militia” to lead his “treason”. The army mobilized its planes to strike and “destroy” RSF bases in Khartoum. As for the calls to return to the negotiating table, the army replied that it was “impossible before the dissolution of the FSR”.