Sudanese army, paramilitary forces trade fire, accuse each other of violating cease-fire

By Adel Abdel-Rahim

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Tuesday exchanged fire in the capital Khartoum, accusing each other of violating the 72-hour cease-fire which ends at midnight on Wednesday.

In a statement late on Tuesday, the Sudanese army said the situation is stable in all of Sudan except for sporadic clashes with RSF in some areas of Khartoum.

The statement added the cease-fire was violated by RSF fighters by shelling locations, including residential areas.

For its part, the RSF blamed the Sudanese army for violating the humanitarian cease-fire, claiming that it is fighting "coup forces" within the Sudanese army which contain elements from the former regime.

At least 550 people have been killed and thousands of others injured in fighting between the two rival generals in Sudan – army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo – since April 15, according to Sudan's Health Ministry.

A disagreement had been fomenting in recent months between the army and the paramilitary force over RSF integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan's transition agreement with political groups.

Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a “coup.”

Sudan’s transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, was scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar