Deadly battles between Sudan’s army and a rival paramilitary group spread across the country during a second day of violence, with fatalities rising to at least 56 amid fears of a full-blown civil war.
Intense fighting took place at the military’s headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, causing parts of the building to catch fire, the army said in a statement Sunday. There were also clashes in el-Fasher in the western region of Darfur over control of the airport, people briefed on the matter said. Further skirmishes took place in Blue Nile state near the border with Ethiopia and in Port Sudan, a key trading zone and crucial conduit for the export of oil from South Sudan.
The United Nations said the two sides agreed to a temporary pause in fighting — from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. local time — on humanitarian grounds on Sunday afternoon. However, it was unclear if the cease-fire is being implemented amid ongoing reports of shooting in the capital as of 5:30 p.m.
The conflict erupted on Saturday after a long-simmering dispute between the army and the Rapid Support Forces militia exploded into a battle for control of the North African nation. The two sides traded claims on holding key infrastructure such as the international airport in Khartoum and the public broadcaster, and the United Nations, U.S., Russia and China called for a cease-fire amid concerns of a regional war.
“If the fighting continues and it becomes a fully fledged civil war, then alliances and allegiances may be reshaped, both domestically and regionally,” said Irene Panozzo, an independent consultant and former political adviser to the European Union special representative for the Horn of Africa. “A full implosion of Sudan is in nobody’s interest but can be expected to draw in neighbors, either directly or by proxies.”
The conflict between the army under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF throws into chaos plans for a power-sharing government that was supposed to lead Sudan to democratic elections after a 2021 coup. A deal was seen as a way to restore billions of dollars of frozen aid and was bring closely monitored by Western powers and Russia and China, which covet its strategic Red Sea coastline and mineral resources.
The 22-nation Arab League warned of “dangerous repercussions whose scope is difficult to determine internally and regionally,” according to a statement.
Fighting engulfed the airport, presidential palace and other parts of the capital, with reports of air strikes and widespread violence in other cities. Residents and Western diplomats reported shooting and loud blasts in several areas across Khartoum on Saturday. Airlines canceled flights out of Khartoum and began to avoid Sudanese airspace.
“There are injuries and deaths among civilians who were unable to reach hospitals and health facilities due to the difficulty of movement and the regular forces’ interception of ambulances and paramedics,” the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a pro-democracy medical group, said in a statement.
Three local staff members of the World Food Programme — part of the United Nations — were killed in the city of el-Fasher in Darfur on Saturday evening after fighting broke out at a military base in the area, according to a statement. The WFP temporarily halted all operations in Sudan, it said.
Although it lacks the military’s tanks and air power, the RSF — led by one-time camel trader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — is a seasoned fighting force notorious for its scorched-earth tactics that may field as many as 70,000 fighters, according to the International Crisis Group. That raises the prospect of an extended conflict that could also draw in Sudan’s neighbors.
The RSF has its origins in the janjaweed militias that terrorized Darfur during the conflict earlier this century. Dagalo is thought to harbor his own presidential ambitions and has forged close ties with Russia in recent years.
“This fight has been building within the security ranks for months, even years,” said Cameron Hudson, a senior associate at the CSIS Africa Program. “There’s a lot of pent up frustration and resentment. None of that suggests that this will be over quickly.”
As part of the proposed deal to restore power to civilians, the RSF — which has its own command structure, wealth and commercial interests — would be folded into the regular military.
Each side blamed the other for the violence. Speaking to Al-Jazeera TV on Saturday, Dagalo accused Burhan of acting on behalf of those in the country who were still in favor of Islamist dictator Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019 amid a popular revolt.
“We will catch Burhan and bring him to justice,” he said. “We will end this in the coming days.”
The military chief, meanwhile, declared in a statement there would be “no negotiations and no dialogue before the dissolving of Hemedti’s rebellious militia,” using a common nickname for the RSF leader.
