Renewed clashes erupt between Sudan’s military rivals

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Fresh clashes erupted between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group in Sudan on Tuesday, according to witnesses.

Clashes were reported in the vicinity of the Central Reserve Police headquarters and the state television building in Omdurman city, west of Khartoum. Military aircraft were seen flying in the area.

Sounds of artillery shelling were heard in the city of Bahri, north of Khartoum, witnesses said. Billows of smoke were seen rising in several areas of the city.

No reports were yet available of casualties.

Sudan has been ravaged by fighting between the army and RSF since April in a conflict that has killed nearly 1,000 civilians and injured 5,000 others, according to local medics.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that the conflict has displaced more than 2.5 million people.

Several cease-fire initiatives mediated by Saudi and US mediators had failed to halt the fighting between the two military rivals.

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and the RSF over the paramilitary group’s integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a "coup."

Sudan's transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, had been scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara