Sudan turmoil live: 39 hospitals bombed out of service

Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has ordered the dissolution of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and branded it as a rebellious group, Sudan's foreign ministry said on Monday.

Sudan’s armed forces on Saturday dismissed any possibility of negotiations or dialogue with the powerful paramilitary until its "dissolution".

Despite the apparently sudden explosion of violence that has taken place between the Sudanese army and the RSF in recent days, the tensions between Burhan and RSF leader Hemeti had been apparent to many Sudan-watchers for months.

In November 2021, just a month after Burhan seized control of Sudan with Hemeti's help, analysts predicted that their alliance always had the potential to collapse entirely.

Patrick Smith, editor of Africa Confidential, told MEE that the two leaders were "mutually treacherous", a situation exacerbated by the tensions between their international backers:

Read more: Hemeti emerges from the shadows to support Burhan's coup

Head of the paramilitary RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemeti, said the international community must take action and intervene against "the crimes of Sudanese General Abdel Fattah al Burhan".

"His army is waging a brutal campaign against innocent people, bombing them with MiGs," Hemeti wrote on Twitter.

In 2021, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan's governing Sovereign Council, and his deputy Hemeti led a coup that halted the country's transition to democracy.

Burhan and Hemeti had maintained an uneasy alliance since, but the power struggle between the military rivals has escalated over the past few months, reaching a boiling point last week. 

The integration of the RSF into the military has become a chief dispute between the two leaders, who are vying for control of Sudan.

Burhan is favoured by Egypt and by figures who held power under ousted autocrat Omar al-Bashir. 

Meanwhile, Hemeti, who was once head of the notorious Janjaweed militias in Darfur, where he controls gold mines, has influential supporters in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The UN chief in Sudan on Monday slammed the failure by both the army and rival paramilitary forces to stop fighting during an agreed humanitarian pause to evacuate the wounded.

United Nations Special Representative Volker Perthes said he was "extremely disappointed that [the] humanitarian cessation of hostilities, that both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces had committed to, was only partially honoured yesterday".

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) has agreed to send the leaders of Kenya, South Sudan and Djibouti to the capital Khartoum.

Igad, an eight-country trading bloc in Africa focusing on regional development, urged warring sides to hold talks and find a negotiated solution out of the crisis. 

Addressing Igad on Sunday, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni condemned the “misuse of force" in the Sudan crisis.

Museveni said the fighting had undermined all the progress that was being incrementally built over the last several months.

"We cannot keep papering over mistakes of unprincipled politics year after year," said Museveni. 

Museveni, who was amongst the mediators during the conflict in South Sudan, said an “unconditional and immediate cessation of hostilities to stop the tragedy and mockery of Africa is of utmost importance”.

At least 97 civilians have been killed and 365 others wounded since fighting erupted in Sudan, the doctor's trade union said in a statement early on Monday.

Explosions rocked the Sudanese capital Khartoum as fighting between the army and Rapid Response Forces (RSF) paramilitary led by rival generals raged.

The doctors' union said the death toll does not include all casualties as many could not reach hospitals due to difficulties in movement amid the fighting.

The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, a separate pro-democracy organisation, reported dozens of deaths among security forces, and some 942 wounded since Saturday including civilians and military.

Regional African bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) plans to send the presidents of Kenya, South Sudan and Djibouti as soon as possible to reconcile conflicting Sudan groups, Kenyan President William Ruto's office said on Twitter.

Since the early hours of Saturday, Sudan has witnessed intense clashes between the Sudanese army and a powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Tensions between the military and the RSF have escalated in recent days over disagreements concerning the integration of the RSF into the military, and disputes over what authority should oversee the process.

The power struggle has twice forced a delay of signing the internationally backed agreement, originally scheduled for 1 April.

The deal is thought to favour Hemeti, which is one reason why the RSF chief has been publicly supporting it. A draft of the final agreement seen by MEE calls for the integration of the SAF and RSF – in addition to former rebel movements – to be agreed within 10 years.

The Sudanese Armed Forces, meanwhile, want the process of integration to take two years. 

Here's a breakdown of the events as they continue to unfold.

The African Union's Peace and Security Council said it strongly rejects any external interference that could complicate the situation in Sudan.

The AU called on "the countries of the region and other stakeholders to support ongoing efforts to return the country to the transition process towards a constitutional order."

The executive director of the UN's World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, said she is "appalled and heartbroken" by the killing of three employees in Sudan's Darfur region.

In a statement, she said two other WFP employees were injured in the same incident.

"We have informed the families of these dedicated team members and stand with them and our entire WFP family at this time of catastrophe.

"Any loss of life in humanitarian service is unacceptable and I demand immediate steps to guarantee the safety of those who remain," she added.

Representatives from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a proposal by the United Nations to pause fighting between 16:00 and 19:00 local time (14:00 and 17:00 GMT) on Sunday.

General Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the Rapid Support Forces supported the proposal.

Egypt and South Sudan on Sunday offered to mediate between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, as fighting rages in Khartoum and other areas across the country, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir, the two most influential direct neighbours to Sudan, in a phone call called on both sides in the power struggle to "choose the voice of reason (and) peaceful dialogue", the statement said.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Sunday that it was temporarily halting all operations in Sudan as it reviews the "evolving security situation" after three of its staff were killed in clashes a day earlier.

"The WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people facing dire food insecurity, but we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed," WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a statement.

Three WFP employees were killed and two were wounded in clashes in Kabkabiya in North Darfur on Saturday while carrying out their duties, Volker Perthes, the UN special envoy for Sudan, earlier reported.

"I also am extremely appalled by reports of projectiles hitting UN and other humanitarian premises, as well as reports of looting of UN and other humanitarian premises in several locations in Darfur," said Perthes, who is also the head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission.

"Civilians and humanitarian workers are not a target."

The WFP also said that one of the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) aircraft it managed was significantly damaged in an exchange of gunfire at Khartoum International Airport on Saturday, "seriously impacting" its humanitarian operations.

The African Union's Peace and Security Council called an emergency session on Sunday to discuss the political and security developments in Sudan, it said on Twitter.