Sudan fighting: Civilians among dozens killed in Khartoum military clashes

Sudan’s air force bombed Khartoum, the capital, on Saturday as the military fought back against an apparent coup attempt by a powerful paramilitary force following weeks of escalating tensions.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which accused the army of attacking first, said it had seized the presidential palace, the home of the head of the army, and Khartoum’s international airport.

At least three people were killed and dozens more injured in clashes, a doctors’ group initially reported, as the RSF and military fought street battles after talks between rival military leaders over a power-sharing plan with civilians broke down.

The death toll had risen to 25 by last night and the Sudanese Doctor's Union said another 183 people were wounded.

The group said it recorded deaths at Khartoum's airport and Omdurman, as well as west of Khartoum in the cities of Nyala, El Obeid and El Fasher.

In recent weeks, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the military, and Lieut Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of the RSF, have been manoeuvring their forces as they vie for power after a deadline to hand power to a civilian government expired.

Heavy gunfire was heard near the Sudanese army headquarters and defence ministry in central Khartoum, and north of the city near the Marawi airbase. Videos shared online showed military vehicles and soldiers moving through empty streets and columns of smoke rising into the sky.

Ahmed Idriss, a witness, said RSF gunmen had dispersed through his neighbourhood and were spraying bullets “like rain”. Eyewitnesses reported clashes between the RSF and army in the Darfur cities of El Fasher and Nyala.

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