Explosions, shooting rock Khartoum
- Heavy gunfire and blasts were reported in Sudan’s capital Khartoum following days of tension between the armed forces and a powerful paramilitary group.
- Shooting and blasts took place in the vicinity of Sudan’s army headquarters, the defence ministry, and the airport in Khartoum.
Army says RSF camps destroyed in Soba
Sudan’s armed forces says the country’s air force has destroyed the Tibah and Soba camps of the “externally-backed” RSF.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the claim.
“We urge our honorable citizens to stay away from the streets of the neighborhoods and not to shelter the runaways,” the army said in a statement posted on Facebook.
Conflict ‘likely’ amid power struggle
Founding director of Khartoum-based think tank, Confluence Advisory, Kholood Khair said that the military and RSF have always been at loggerheads because of their divergent visions on consolidating power.
But because they both want to avoid accountability and committing to security sector reforms that may curtail their powers, they have been working together, he said.
“There are signs that they are working together to escalate the tensions and very publicly show this escalation to get concessions from pro-democracy forces, only then to de-escalate those tensions. This has been a cycle of rinse and repeat over the past few years,” Khair noted.
“An armed conflict is always possible and likely, precisely because of the power struggle between Burhan and Hemeti that supersedes all these machinations. They come together when they need to resist reforms and democratic gains. When things don’t go their way, we see things heating up. It is those different impulses playing out, which means that regardless of whether there is a de-escalation or not, there is always a likelihood of a clash.”
“What makes this particular incident in Marawi interesting is that we’ve seen the armed forces come out and almost call out the actions of the RSF as an act of war. This is a type of escalation we haven’t seen before, which is giving people anxiety.”
