Sudan unrest: Indians asked to stay indoors amid army-paramilitary clash

International

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Indians residing in Sudan were urged to stay indoors on Saturday afternoon as clashes continued in various parts of the country.

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said it has taken control of Khartoum international airport and the residence of army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, according to the latest reports as quoted by Reuters.

”In view of reported firings and clashes, all Indians are advised to take utmost precautions, stay indoors and stop venturing outside with immediate effect. Please also stay calm and wait for updates,” read an update from the Indian Embassy in Khartoum.

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Sustained firing was heard in the Sudanese capital Saturday morning amid tensions between the military and the country’s powerful paramilitary forces.

The firing could be heard in a number of areas, including central Khartoum and the neighbourhood of Bahri.

Tensions between the military and the Rapid Support Forces, as the paramilitary is known, have escalated in recent months, forcing a delay in the signing of an internationally backed deal with political parties to revive the country’s democratic transition.

In a statement issued Saturday morning, the RSF accused the army of attacking its forces at one of its bases in South Khartoum. The military used light and heavy weapons in the attack, it said.

Current tensions between the army and the paramilitary stem from a disagreement over how the RSF should be integrated into the military and what authority should oversee the process.

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The merger is a key condition of Sudan’s unsigned transition agreement.

However, the army-RSF rivalry dates back to the rule of autocratic President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019.

Under the former president, the paramilitary force, led by powerful Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, grew out of former militias known as the Janjaweed that carried out a brutal crackdown in Sudan’s Darfur region during the decades of conflict there.