In a symbolic gesture, Sudan's top army general on Friday fired the paramilitary leader his former ally turned rival as the deputy of the country's governing body, state media reported.
The dismissal by General Abdel Fattah Burhan of Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces, from the Sovereignty Council comes as the two feuding generals continue to battle for control over this troubled African country.
The monthlong conflict has killed at least 705 people, the World Health Organisation said Friday.
The firing, reported by the state SUNA news agency, is unlikely to affect the battlefield where the warring sides appear locked in a stalemate and unwilling to end the hostilities. The paramilitary forces did not immediately comment.
The combat has been most acute in the Sudanese capital and in the western Darfur region.
In South Darfur's regional capital of Nyala, intense fighting between the army and RSF forces flared up Thursday killing at least 18 civilians, the Darfur Bar Association said, a legal group focusing on human rights.
Last weekend, upward of 280 civilians were killed when RSF and other affiliated militias stormed the city of Geneina, also in the Darfur region, and clashed with armed residents, the Sudan Doctors Union said.
Last week, the two sides signed a US-Saudi brokered pact vowing to better protect civilians caught in the crossfire. International efforts are underway to try and build a lasting truce.
Burhan appointed Malik Agar, a once prominent leader of the Sudan Revolutionary Front, a rebel movement in Sudan's southern Blue Nile State, to replace Dagalo, SUNA said. The United Nations and rights groups have accused Sudan's warring sides of human rights abuses.
The army has been blamed for bombing residential areas and hospitals, while the RSF was condemned for looting, attacking civilians and turning civilian houses into operational bases.
