(CNN) — A Sudanese paramilitary group said it was in control of the presidential palace and other key sites in the country as tensions with army erupted into open fighting.
Witnesses reported fighting around the presidential palace and army headquarters in the capital Khartoum.
In a statement, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said they were control of airports in Khartoum, Marwa and al-Abiad as well as the palace.
The group said they were responding to a surprise attack from the army on one of their bases.
But Sudan’s miltary leader said \”all\” strategic military sites were under the control of the army.
\”No one was able to enter the Army General Command and all the strategic sites are under control,\” Abdel Fatah al-Burhan said in a statement.
Sudan’s army said it was fighting the RSF in Khartoum, accusing the group of \”traitorous plotting\” against the country.
The military has been in charge of Sudan since a coup in 2021, which ended a power sharing arrangement formed following the ousting of long-term former President Omar al-Bashir.
Talks have been under way on integrating the RSF into the army as part of the move towards the return of civilian rule, but sources told CNN there are tensions over who would be the senior partner in the merger.
Political party calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’
Amid a volatile and uncertain situation on the ground, there have been widespread calls for calm.
Sudan’s National Umma Party urged the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF paramilitary group to stop the violence.
The Islamic political party shared a statement containing a list of crucial points directed at the leaders of both sides, including the \”immediate cease-fire at all engagement sites\” and the retrieval of both sides to \”their previous positions before the clashes.\”
The US ambassador to Sudan said he was sheltering amid the clashes in the capital.
\”I just arrived late last night in Khartoum and woke up to the deeply disturbing sounds of gunfire and fighting,\” Ambassador John Godfrey said in a tweet.
Meanwhile US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the situation in Khartoum is \”fragile\” when asked by a reporter to comment during a presser in Vietnam.
“The major parties in Khartoum, some weeks ago reached a very important framework agreement on how to proceed with a transition to civilian government. And there’s been real progress in trying to move that forward,” Blinken said on Saturday.
