A warplane was shot down in Khartoum on Tuesday, sparking clashes and artillery fire on several neighborhoods of the war-torn Sudanese capital, witnesses said.
“We saw pilots parachuting as the plane hit the ground,” said a witness in northern Khartoum. A source within the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (FSR) told AFP that the FSR shot down the army plane.
The FSR said in a press release that it “arrested the pilot after landing” and also accused the army of “heinous massacres” in the Khartoum region.
The Sudanese army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane has been at war with the FSR paramilitaries led by its former number two, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, since April 15.
According to the non-governmental organization Acled, the conflict has killed nearly 3,000 people and, according to the United Nations, has left 2.8 million displaced people and refugees.
A resident of Omdurman, a northern suburb of the capital, on Tuesday reported “violent clashes with various types of weapons”.
Other witnesses said they “observed airstrikes (near) the state television building” that the RSF attacked this week and used anti-aircraft missiles on Tuesday.
Residents in the east of the capital also reported clashes with machine guns.
A witness said the army also fired “rockets and heavy artillery” at RSF bases in the center and north of the capital. Homes were damaged and civilians were taken to one of the few hospitals still operational, another added.
In Khartoum and the western Darfur region, fighting mainly affected densely populated areas. The streets were strewn with bodies and houses were hit by rockets, witnesses said.
Civilians trapped by the fighting have been on water, food, electricity and medicine rations for nearly three months.