Egypt expressed on Saturday its great concern over the ongoing clashes in neighboring Sudan, calling on all Sudanese parties to exercise utmost restraint, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Egypt also urged all Sudanese parties to protect the lives of the citizens and prioritize the higher interests of their nation.
The statement came after heavy gunfire was heard in several parts of Sudan’s capital Khartoum and nearby cities, following days of tension between Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the country’s army.
“We will not stop fighting until we capture all the army bases and the honourable members of the armed forces join us,” Mohamed Hamdan Daglo who is known as Hemedti told Al Jazeera.
The army has previously warned against the RSF deployment in Khartoum and other cities without its approval.
UNITAMS chief Volker Perthes “strongly condemns the eruption of fighting in Sudan,” he said in a statement.
Daglo-led RSF claimed it has taken control of at least three airports, the army chief’s residence and the presidential palace. However, Daily News Egypt Sources in Khartoum have denied this information, saying the situation is still fluid and that the Sudanese army has taken several RSF bases.
The Sudanese air force is conducting operations against the RSF, the army said. Viral video showed a military aircraft in the sky above Khartoum. Another video showed multiple helicopters fly over the capital.
Hemedti, a warlord whose RSF has its origins in the janjaweed militias implicated in alleged war crimes in Darfur in the 2000s, has emerged as a serious contender for power but has sought to brand himself as a defender of Sudan’s revolution and insists he is eager for the country to hold democratic elections.
Sudan has been suffering a political crisis since the Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency in October 2021 and dissolved the sovereign council as well as the government.
In December 2022, Sudan’s military and civilian leaders signed a political framework agreement to end the political impasse and institute a two-year transitional civilian authority, but the two sides have so far failed to transform the agreement into a final deal.
They agreed on most of the issues, except for those relating to reforms of the security and military forces, under which the RSF and other armed factions would be integrated into the Sudanese army.
