The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Sudan claim to have taken control of a heavily armed police unit’s headquarters in southern Khartoum.
Witnesses reported an increase in clashes, artillery fire, and air raids in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, as the conflict between opposing military factions, which has forced 2.5 million people from their homes and created a humanitarian crisis, began its eleventh week.
In order to gain an advantage in its conflict with the army during intense fighting in the capital, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed to have taken control of the headquarters of a heavily armed police unit on Sunday.
The RSF released a statement claiming complete control over the Central Reserve Police base in southern Khartoum and shared video of its members inside the location, some of whom were seen taking ammo crates out of a warehouse.
Witnesses also said that Nyala, the biggest city in the western Darfur region, has seen a major rise in violence recently. The death of members of the Masalit community in El Geneina, West Darfur, and the targeting of them on the basis of their ethnicity alarmed the UN on Saturday.
The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF began on April 15 and has primarily affected Khartoum and El Geneina, although last week tensions and skirmishes worsened in other regions of Darfur and in the southern state of Kordofan.
Since many cease-fire agreements reached at discussions mediated by the United States and Saudi Arabia in Jeddah fell through, fighting has gotten worse. Last week, the negotiations came to an end.