Central Khartoum witnesses escalation in fighting

Khartoum, April 16 – Fighting between army units and the Rapid Response Forces in the center of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, intensified with renewed vigor after the parties agreed to temporarily open humanitarian corridors, according to a the News Agency correspondent.

Earlier, the Sudanese government army and the country’s rapid reaction forces agreed to open humanitarian corridors for several hours, starting at 16.00 (17.00 Moscow time).

The reporter stated that “the fighting in central Khartoum intensified.”

The main battles take place in the center of Khartoum, near the main command building of the country’s armed forces.

“The Rapid Response Force is notifying the respected citizens that, as part of the United Nations’ request and the forces’ desire to make life easier for people, they will allow the opening of safe passages for humanitarian cases for citizens, starting now, for a period of four hours.”

On Saturday, fighting broke out in Sudan between the Rapid Response Forces and the regular army. The Sudanese Rapid Response Force said that it had taken control of the Republic Palace (the presidential palace) in Khartoum, the Capital International Airport, and an air base in the northern city of Meroe. The SBR accused the regular army of attacking its base in the capital with “using all kinds of weapons”.

The Sudanese army said that the statements of the Rapid Response Forces are incorrect, and that all strategic facilities, including the presidential palace, are under the control of the armed forces. The army also indicated that the Rapid Response Forces attacked them first. The Sudanese army and the General Security Service described the Rapid Response Forces as a rebel force and accused them of attacking government and strategic facilities. The head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the country’s armed forces, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, issued a decision to dissolve the Rapid Response Forces.

There are currently separate clashes and skirmishes between the army and the Rapid Response Forces in a number of other Sudanese governorates.

The opposing forces in Sudan exchanged conflicting statements about military successes and control of facilities, which led to a large-scale information war in the media and social networks.