Sudan’s paramilitary chief demands army staff to step down

The head of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces demanded Friday that his foes in the army general staff step down to allow more than three months of fighting to end.

In a five-minute video believed to be his first since the fighting erupted on April 15, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo told regular army troops that peace could be restored “within 72 hours” if they handed over their commander General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his top aides.

Filmed wearing military fatigues and surrounded by jubilant RSF fighters, Daglo insisted that he wanted a return to peace.

But there was no let-up in the fighting Friday, with residents reporting fresh air strikes and rocket fire on densely populated residential areas of the capital Khartoum.

Witnesses also reported explosions inside the Yarmouk weapons manufacturing and arms depot complex.

Nationwide, the fighting has killed at least 3,900 people and driven more than 3.5 million from their homes.