The largest group of militias trained by the military in Sudan said on Saturday that they have captured the presidential palace, the residence of the military commander and the main airport in the capital of Khartoum.
The move appears to be an attempted coup, but the Sudanese military says it is still at war with the group.
The group called the Sudanese Emergency Response Force (RSF) accused the Sudanese military of launching the attack. They also said that they have taken over the airports of the cities of Merowe in the north of Sudan and El-Obeid in the west.
The situation in Khartoum is still unclear. The troops said they are fighting with the RSF militia especially in the areas they claimed to have captured. The military also said that they captured bases from the RSF, while on the other hand they denied that the group captured the airport in the city of Merowe.
Major clashes between the RSF and the Sudanese military could put the country in a state of widespread conflict, while Sudan is struggling with economic collapse and tribal conflicts.
This issue can also undermine the efforts made to hold elections in the country and hand over power to civilians.
The clashes that broke out follow tensions between the Sudanese military and the RSF forces over the plan to include the military and who will be in charge of the process.
The controversy that arose from these issues has delayed the signing of an internationally-backed agreement reached by Sudan's political parties, which was aimed at Sudan's transition to a democratic system.
The RSF has accused the Sudanese military of plotting a plan to push those loyal to the powerful former president of Sudan, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir - who was ousted from power in 2019.
They also accused the military of planning to maintain power by force and coup.
The RSF is headed by the leader of the group, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemeti, who has been the deputy head of the Sudanese Council since 2019, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
The Sudanese army said that the country's air force was carrying out operations against the RSF. Footage broadcast on Sudanese television showed military planes hovering over the airspace of Khartoum, but international news agencies did not confirm this.
Gunshots could be heard in different parts of Khartoum, and witnesses are reporting gunshots in cities close to Khartoum.
A reporter from the Reuters news agency reported that he saw artillery and armored vehicles deployed on the streets of the Sudanese capital, and heard heavy weapons firing near the main military and RSF headquarters.
A video broadcast also showed black smoke in the air in parts of Khartoum.
Doctors said that at least three civilians died in the fighting.
The United States, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Nations and European Union have called for an end to the conflict.
The RSF group is said to have 100,000 strong forces, and it is part of the Janjaweed militia that fought in the Darfur region of western Sudan in 2000, where about 2.5 million people were displaced and about 300,000 were killed. .
