More than 400 people have been killed including three UN workers and more than 3,500 injured since the fighting between Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and Sudan armed forces began last week with reports of the Internet services being suspended across the county on Sunday.
On Saturday, RSF said that it has taken control of the presidential palace and the country's international airport in an apparent coup attempt and accused the army of attacking first; the military said it was fighting back, Al Jazeera reported.
Then the military dismissed civilian ministers in a coup in October 2021, but restored Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok following a month of protests.
RSF is a powerful former militia that has been accused of widespread human rights abuses, especially during the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region. Today, it operates under a special law and has its own chain of command headed by Dagalo, also known as Hemeti.
He climbed Sudan’s political ladder by serving under former leader Omar al-Bashir, under whom the forces were recognised in 2017. Al-Bashir was removed after a mass protest movement against him in 2019.
Hemeti is now deputy leader of Sudan’s ruling council, which took power after a coup by the army and RSF in late 2021. However, he has recently pulled away from the military and found common ground with a civilian political alliance.
France and US has begun to evacuate its citizens and diplomatic staff and embassies from Sudan.
US President Joe Biden on Saturday said Washington was suspending operations at its embassy in Sudan as the US military evacuated American government personnel from Khartoum.
Sudan was the largest and one of the most geographically diverse states in Africa, until its split into two countries in 2011 after southern Sudan voted for independence.