Armed conflict between the Sudanese army and paramilitary groups flared up again on Thursday morning in a number of locations throughout the country’s capital, Khartoum.
Conflicts were reportedly heard close to the presidential palace and the Sudanese Army General Command in central Khartoum, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to Anadolu.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who attempted to attack the army’s command in the neighboring city of Bahri, which is part of Khartoum, battled with the Sudanese army, according to a statement.
The statement also claimed that the army severely injured and killed RSF members, forcing them to flee.
The RSF, in the meantime, accused the Sudanese army of starting the fighting, violating the cease-fire, and assaulting its residential areas with artillery and planes in a “cowardly manner.”
The two opposing generals in Sudan, army head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, reached an understanding on a seven-day cease-fire that will begin on Thursday, the government of South Sudan declared on Tuesday.
According to comments made by the Sudanese Health Ministry, more than 550 people have died and more than 5,000 others have been injured since the confrontations began on April 15.
The army and the paramilitary force have been at odds recently over the RSF incorporation into the armed forces, a crucial stipulation of Sudan’s transition deal with political groupings.
Since the military overthrew Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional administration and proclaimed a state of emergency in October 2021—a move that political opponents dubbed a “coup”—Sudan has been without a functioning government.
The transitional period in Sudan, which began in August 2019 after President Omar al-Bashir was forced from office, was supposed to finish with elections in early 2024.