Sudan\u2019s military launched air strikes on a paramilitary force\u2019s base near the capital in a bid to reassert control over the country on Sunday following clashes in which scores of combatants and at least 56 civilians were killed.
\nAt the end of a day of heavy fighting, the army struck a base belonging to the government\u2019s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the city of Omdurman, which adjoins the capital Khartoum, eyewitnesses said late on Saturday.
\nThe military and RSF, which analysts say is 100,000 strong, have been competing for power as political factions negotiate to form a transitional government after a 2021 military coup.
\nIn the early hours of Sunday morning, eyewitnesses heard the sound of heavy artillery firing across Khartoum, Omdurman and nearby Bahri, and there was also gunfire heard in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, where there had been no earlier reports of fighting.
\nThe Sudanese Doctors\u2019 Union reported at least 56 civilians had been killed and 595 people, including combatants, had been wounded since the fighting erupted on Saturday.
\nScores of military personnel were also killed, it said without giving a specific number due to a lack of first-hand information from many of the hospitals where those casualties were taken.
\nThe group earlier said it recorded deaths at Khartoum\u2019s airport and Omdurman, as well as west of Khartoum in the cities of Nyala, El Obeid and El Fasher.
\nThe RSF claimed to have seized the presidential palace, army chief\u2019s residence, state television station and airports in Khartoum, the northern city of Merowe, El Fasher and West Darfur state. The army rejected those assertions.
\nThe Sudanese air force told people to stay indoors while it conducted what it called an aerial survey of RSF activity, and a holiday was declared in Khartoum state for Sunday, closing schools, banks and government offices.
\nGunfire and explosions could be heard across the capital, where TV footage showed smoke rising from several districts and social media videos captured military jets flying low over the city, at least one appearing to fire a missile.
\nA Reuters journalist saw cannon and armoured vehicles on the streets and heard heavy weapons fire near the headquarters of both the army and RSF.
\nArmy chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan told Al Jazeera TV the RSF should back down: \u201cWe think if they are wise they will turn back their troops that came into Khartoum. But if it continues we will have to deploy troops into Khartoum from other areas.\u201d
\nThe armed forces said it would not negotiate with the RSF unless the force dissolved. The army told soldiers seconded to the RSF to report to nearby army units, which could deplete RSF ranks if they obey.
\nThe RSF leader, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, called Burhan a \u201ccriminal\u201d and a \u201cliar\u201d.
\n\u201cWe know where you are hiding and we will get to you and hand you over to justice, or you die just like any other dog,\u201d Hemedti said.
\nA prolonged confrontation could plunge Sudan into widespread conflict as it struggles with economic breakdown and tribal violence, derailing efforts to move towards elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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