Gunfire Heard Outside Sudan’s RSF Military Camp in Khartoum

The sounds of gunfire could be heard outside a military camp of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital of Khartoum on Saturday, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

Local media reported that clashes had broken out between the RSF and the Sudanese army in Khartoum.

Later in the day, the RSF said that the country’s regular army had attacked the paramilitary’s base in Khartoum.

“Today, the Rapid Support Forces were surprised by a large group of armed forces that entered the headquarters of the Soba military camp in Khartoum. They besieged the forces there and then attacked them with all kinds of heavy and light weapons,” the RSF said in a statement.

The paramilitary group added that it had contacted international mediators on the situation in Sudan, as well as influential Sudanese lawmakers.

In the early hours of Thursday, the Sudanese army issued a statement saying that the RSF had begun moving into the city of Merowe in what was a “clear violation of the law” done without prior coordination or notification. The RSF, in turn, claimed their operations in Merowe were part of their duties.

The Sudanese army had also deployed its troops in Merowe in the event of a further escalation, giving the RSF time to vacate the city, Al Arabiya broadcaster reported, citing sources.

Several Sudanese politicians and international mediators involved in the settlement of the conflict have called for restraint and peaceful negotiations.

The Forces of Freedom and Change, the Sudanese opposition coalition, said on April 6 that the signing of a final political agreement that would establish a transitional civilian authority in Sudan has been postponed again due to a lack of consensus between the two opposing parties.

Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council and commander-in-chief of the Sudanese military, and Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, his deputy and commander of the RSF, could not agree on the process of integrating the RSF into the regular army.

In October 2021, the Sudanese army under Burhan overthrew the government in a military coup, declaring a state of emergency and establishing a transitional sovereign council under his leadership. Subsequent protests forced Burhan to sign a pact that called for the reinstatement of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, the release of all political prisoners, the holding of elections in July 2023, and the transfer of power to an elected civilian government. The political crisis continued, however, and Hamdok stepped down on January 2, 2022.