Khartoum power struggle as rivals battle for control

Fighting between rival government factions intensified across much of Sudan early this week as diplomatic efforts to end a conflict gathered momentum

- Zeinab Mohammed Salih, Jason Burke and Pippa Crerar

By Tuesday, the UN envoy to Sudan said at least 185 people had been killed and 1,800 wounded as clashes spread since last weekend. Many more bodies lay uncollected in the streets.

Violence erupted last Saturday between army units loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s transitional governing Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who is deputy head of the council.

In Khartoum, initial fighting centred on key sites such as the international airport, presidential palace and the army headquarters, where Burhan was thought to be based. Military jets flew over the capital on Monday, after anight of repeated bouts of firing and shelling.

Witnesses told Reuters the army was renewing airstrikes on RSF bases in Omdurman, Khartoum’s sister city across the Nile. Dozens of bodies have been seen by witnesses in one central neighbourhood of the capital, while hundreds of students were trapped by the fighting in schools.

There were also reports of clashes at Merowe, 300km north of Khartoum, and in many parts of Darfur state. Officials also reported fighting in the eastern region, including the provinces of Kassala and al-Qadarif on the borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea.