Dozens killed during battle in Sudan’s capital

Sudan’s air force bombed Khartoum, the capital, on Saturday as the military fought back against an apparent coup attempt by a powerful paramilitary force following weeks of escalating tensions.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which accused the army of attacking first, said it had seized the presidential palace, the home of the head of the army, and Khartoum’s international airport.

At least three people were killed and dozens more injured in clashes, a doctors’ group initially reported, as the RSF and military fought street battles after talks between rival military leaders over a power-sharing plan with civilians broke down.

The death toll had risen to 25 by last night and the Sudanese Doctor's Union said another 183 people were wounded.

The group said it recorded deaths at Khartoum's airport and Omdurman, as well as west of Khartoum in the cities of Nyala, El Obeid and El Fasher.

In recent weeks, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the military, and Lieut Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of the RSF, have been manoeuvring their forces as they vie for power after a deadline to hand power to a civilian government expired.

Heavy gunfire was heard near the Sudanese army headquarters and defence ministry in central Khartoum, and north of the city near the Marawi airbase. Videos shared online showed military vehicles and soldiers moving through empty streets and columns of smoke rising into the sky.

Ahmed Idriss, a witness, said RSF gunmen had dispersed through his neighbourhood and were spraying bullets “like rain”.  Eyewitnesses reported clashes between the RSF and army in the Darfur cities of El Fasher and Nyala.

In a statement, the RSF accused the military of attempting a coup of its own and said RSF fighters had also taken over two other airports in the northern city of Merowe and El-Obeid, in the south.

The army said the Sudanese air force was conducting operations against the RSF after paramilitary gunmen attacked army positions in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. The RSF claimed on Twitter that “a number of” Sudanese army forces “led by the Inspector General and a group of honourable officers” had joined the paramilitaries.

The military seized power in a coup 18 months ago but was due to hand power to a civilian government on April 11 in an agreement reached with civil protest leaders and Gen Hamdan, who is also commonly known as Hemedti.

Sudan has been pulled into a three-way power struggle between the military, the RSF and civil protest leaders since a nationwide protest movement led to the overthrow of Omar Al Bashir, the long-standing dictator, in April 2019.

Hemedti, a warlord whose RSF has its origins in the janjaweed militias implicated in alleged war crimes in Darfur in the 2000s, has emerged as a serious contender for power but has sought to brand himself as a defender of Sudan’s revolution and insists he is eager for the country to hold democratic elections.

The United States, Russia, the European Union, the United Nations, Egypt and Saudi Arabia all called for calm.

“We urge all actors to stop the violence immediately and avoid further escalations or troop mobilisations and continue talks to resolve outstanding issues,” Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, wrote on Twitter.

Britain’s embassy in Sudan urged UK citizens there to remain indoors and said it was closely monitoring the situation.

“The ongoing violence across Sudan must stop immediately,” James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, said. “Military action will not resolve this situation.” He called on the Sudanese leadership to to restrain troops and de-escalate.