2 guards killed in attack on presidential palace in Khartoum: spokesperson

Gunfire was heard inside the presidential palace in Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday, eyewitnesses said. Reports then broke that two guards had been killed in the attack, a government spokesperson said.

Army and police forces were seen deployed around the palace and traffic was halted in a number of nearby streets, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter in the Sudanese capital.

A well-placed source told Anadolu that a man was detained after opening fire toward the palace.

However, the semi-official Sudan Media Center website reported that the assailant had been killed.

The Centre said that an unidentified man approached palace guards with a knife, before stabbing a guard, snatching his weapon and opening fire. .

It was unclear if President Omar al-Bashir was at the palace at the time. Al-Bashir came to power in a 1989 coup. He announced last month he plans to run for office again next year.