At least 56 people died during the riots in Sudan

In Sudan, the armed confrontation between the regular army and the paramilitary pro-government group “Fast Support Forces” continued on Sunday night. At least 56 people died during the night, and about 600 were injured.

The Reuters agency, with reference to the Sudanese Union of Doctors, clarifies that the 56 dead are only civilians. The number of dead soldiers is unknown, journalists say about “dozens”.

The Sudanese army carried out airstrikes on the bases of the Rapid Support Forces in Omdurman, a suburb of the country’s capital, Khartoum. In the capital and suburbs, according to local residents, the sounds of heavy artillery are heard.

The commander-in-chief of the Sudanese army, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, said in a commentary on the Al-Jazeera TV channel that he is ready for negotiations with the Rapid Support Forces, but if they do not agree to lay down their arms, troops from other regions of the country will be sent to Khartoum. In response, the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known by the nickname Hemedta, called Al-Burkhan a “liar and a criminal” and promised that his troops would either hand him over to justice, or he would “die like a dog.” He also stated that his troops intend to fight until they capture all the military bases of the regular army.

The Saudia airline reported that the Khartoum airport came under fire, and one of its planes was damaged. Now most airlines have canceled flights to Khartoum. Chad has closed its border with Sudan.

“Сылы быстрой поддержие” is a paramilitary formation that is not part of the regular army of Sudan and does not obey its Ministry of Defense. In 2019, it supported a military coup that ousted Sudan’s authoritarian president, Omar al-Bashir. In 2021, the organization, which consists of about 100 thousand people, supported the second military coup, which postponed the transfer of power to the civil administration.

Army and civilian officials demand that the Rapid Support Forces be included in the armed forces. Negotiations on this should have ended by April 1, however, the planned signing of the agreement was postponed for an indefinite period.

• In 2022, Dagalo visited Moscow and expressed his support for the construction of a Russian military base on the Red Sea. The construction of the base was approved by Omar al-Bashir shortly before the 2019 coup.
• The Russian PMC “Wagner” group operates in Sudan. She trained the local military. An employee of a gold mining company associated with it was charged with smuggling this week.