The residents of Khartoum woke up this Sunday morning to the sound of gunfire and clouds of smoke could be seen in the capital’s sky. “We hear huge explosions,” witnesses from a district in the south of the city where the army attacked Rapid Support Force bases told our colleagues at Agence France-Presse.
In the center of the capital, paramilitary forces attacked the army headquarters for the second day in a row. According to these witnesses, there were clashes involving weapons of various kinds around the headquarters. The fighting is raging and some even speak of the fiercest clashes since the beginning of the war…
In addition, there were serious fires caused by shootings and explosions this weekend. Residents posted photos of burning buildings on social media. Among these iconic buildings is the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company tower. Located near the Nile, this 18-story conical building is one of Khartoum’s landmarks. “It hurts a lot to see this. “This destruction makes no sense,” Tagreed Abdin, one of the building’s architects, commented online.
Several government buildings burned
“I’m so sorry. This place was incredible. I express all my solidarity to the suffering Sudanese,” commented David Lelliott, former British diplomat in Sudan. Other well-known buildings, such as the Meteorological Center, also went up in flames this weekend .
According to the Sudan War Monitor, a consortium of journalists and experts, the Rapid Support Forces attacked army-controlled areas on Saturday, including the Justice Ministry. Several government buildings were set on fire again. While local residents reported operations by soldiers against paramilitaries in the south of Khartoum.
In a statement, the FSR blamed army airstrikes for the fires. A statement that cannot currently be verified.
There are also reports of clashes 350 kilometers further south, in North Kordofan’s capital, El Obeid, where witnesses reported exchanges of fire between the army and the RSF.