By Khalid Abdelaziz and Nafisa Eltahir
KHARTOUM, April 15 (Reuters) – Sudan’s main paramilitary group claimed to have seized the presidential palace, army chief’s residence and Khartoum international airport on Saturday in an apparent coup attempt, but the army said it was counterattacking.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which accused the army of attacking them first, also said they had seized the airports in the northern city of Merowe and El-Obeid in the west.
The situation on the ground was unclear. The army claimed that it was fighting the RSF in the places the paramilitaries claimed to have taken and denied that the RSF had taken Merowe airport.
A major confrontation between the RSF and the army could plunge Sudan into widespread civil conflict as it grapples with economic crisis and tribal violence.
The RSF accused the army of carrying out a plot by those loyal to ousted President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and of attempting to stage a coup himself.
The Sudanese air force is carrying out operations against the RSF, according to the army. Broadcaster images showed a military plane in the sky over Khartoum, but Reuters could not independently confirm this.
Gunshots were heard in various areas of Khartoum and eyewitnesses reported shootings in neighboring cities.
A Reuters journalist saw guns and armored vehicles deployed on the streets of the capital and heard heavy weapons fire near both the army and RSF headquarters.
Medics said clashes had broken out in residential neighborhoods and at least three civilians had been killed.
Clashes also broke out at the headquarters of Sudanese state television, according to a presenter who appeared briefly on screen.
There was a heavy exchange of fire in Merowe, eyewitnesses told Reuters.
Eyewitnesses told Reuters that clashes had broken out between the RSF and the army in the Darfur towns of El Fasher and Nyala.
International powers – the United States, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Nations and the European Union – called for an end to hostilities.
(Khalid Abdelaziz in Khartoum and Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo Writing by Nafisa Eltahir and Michael Georgy Edited in Spanish by Juana Casas)
Source: Ambito
