The paramilitaries in Sudan claim to have taken control this Saturday, April 15 of the international airport and the presidential palace in Khartoum, shaken since the morning by gunfire and explosions, in the most violent episode of the rivalry between the two generals in orders since the putsch.
The Rapid Support Forces (FSR) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”, are now calling on the entire population, like the soldiers themselves, to sedition against the army.
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Opposite, the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, de facto ruler of Sudan since the coup of October 25, 2021, denounces ” lies “ and the ” treason “ of a force that recently deployed armor and men across the country without consulting her.
During the putsch, Hemedti and Burhane formed a common front to oust civilians from power. But over time, Hemedti has never ceased to denounce the coup d’etat, to side with the civilians – therefore against the army in political negotiations – and it is now his dispute with General Burhane that prevents any way out of the crisis in Sudan.
For days, the street had been buzzing with rumors of an impending guerrilla war between the two camps. This Saturday morning, Khartoum woke up to the sound of heavy and light gunfire and almost non-stop explosions.
Mutual accusations
In a few hours, the FSRs announced that they had taken Khartoum international airport, in the heart of the capital, then the presidential palace where General Burhane usually sits, as well as the palace reserved for state guests, an airport in north of the country and “other bases in different provinces”.
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And in a press release, they call on the population to “join them” and affirm to the soldiers that they “Not targeting them, but their staff, which uses them to stay on its throne, even if it means putting the stability of the country at risk”.
Residents are confined to their homes. “Like all Sudanese, I remain sheltered”tweeted US Ambassador John Godfrey. “The escalation of tensions between soldiers to direct confrontation is extremely dangerous. I call on senior military commanders to stop fighting immediately”he wrote again.
The army, opposite, denounces ” lies “ and accuses the FSR of having started the hostilities: ” the fights “ started when the RSF attacked army bases “in Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan”, army spokesman General Nabil Abdallah told AFP. The army, she “does his duty to protect the fatherland”he added.
On the FSR side, the opposite is said: they say they have been “surprised in the morning by the arrival of a large contingent of the army who besieged their camp in Soba”in the south of Khartoum, and “attacked with all kinds of heavy and light weapons”.
The future of the paramilitaries in question
Thursday, the army was already denouncing a deployment ” dangerous “ paramilitaries in Khartoum and other cities in Sudan “without the approval or the slightest coordination with the command of the armed forces”.
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She then pulled “alarm bell” facing a development ” dangerous “.
Because for days, while civilians and the international community had to accept a new postponement of the signing of a political agreement supposed to get the country out of the impasse – because of the differences between the two generals – videos kept coming show the arrival of large numbers of armored vehicles and men in various cities, including Khartoum.
The differences relate mainly to the future of the paramilitaries: the return to democratic transition is dependent on their integration into the regular troops.
If the army does not refuse it, it still wants to impose its conditions of admission and limit in time their incorporation. General Daglo, he claims a broad inclusion and, above all, his place within the staff.
It is this dispute that still blocks the return to the transition demanded by the international community to resume aid to Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world.
