India and United Kingdom on Saturday advised its citizens in Sudan to stay indoors amid heavy firing between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary force RSF.
Sustained firing was heard in Sudan's capital Khartoum on Saturday morning amid tensions between the military and the country's powerful paramilitary forces. The Guardian reported that the RSF claimed it had taken control of the presidential palace, the residence of the army chief and Khartoum international airport.
The firing was reported in central Khartoum and the neighbourhood of Bahri.
The Indian Embassy in Sudan tweeted, “In view of reported firings and clashes, all Indians are advised to take utmost precautions, stay indoors and stop venturing outside with immediate effect. Please also stay calm and wait for updates.”
Similarly, the British Embassy in Sudan asked its nationals there to remain indoors. On Twitter, the Embassy said, "We are closely monitoring the situation in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan where there are ongoing military clashes. We advise all British Nationals in Sudan to remain indoors and follow our travel advice for more updates."
UK issued travel advice for its nationals and said, “There is a risk that the situation in Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan could deteriorate. You should stay away from areas where demonstrations are planned. If you unexpectedly meet a demonstration, leave the area straight away.”
Tensions between the military and the Rapid Support Forces, as the paramilitary is known, have escalated in recent months, forcing a delay in the signing of an internationally backed deal with political parties to revive the country's democratic transition.
In a statement issued Saturday morning, the RSF accused the army of attacking its forces at one of its bases in South KhartoumThe military used light and heavy weapons in the attack, it said.
The army has not commented on the incident.
Current tensions between the army and the paramilitary stem from a disagreement over how the RSF, headed by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, should be integrated into the military and what authority should oversee the process. The merger is a key condition of Sudan's unsigned transition agreement.
In a rare televised speech Thursday, a top army general warned of potential clashes with paramilitary force, accusing it of deploying forces in Khartoum and other areas of Sudan without the army's consent.
The RSF defended the presence of its forces in an earlier statement.
The paramilitary recently deployed troops near the northern Sudanese town of Merowe. Also, videos circulating on social media Thursday show what appear to be RSF-armed vehicles being transported into Khartoum, farther to the south.
The army-RSF rivalry dates back to the rule of autocratic President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019.
Under the former president, the paramilitary force grew out of former militias known as the Janjaweed that carried out a brutal crackdown in Sudan's Darfur region during the decades of conflict there.