KHARTOUM: Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) said it had taken control of Khartoum airport on Saturday in response to army attacks on its bases.

"The Rapid Support Forces defended themselves in response to the hostile forces inflicting heavy losses" on the regular army, the RSF statement said.

It said its fighters "were able to take control of Merowe airport" north of Khartoum, "expelled attackers on bases in Soba" and "took control of Khartoum airport."

Earlier, heavy gunfire and explosions have been heard around Sudanese capital Khartoum, witnesses said, following days of tension between the army and a powerful paramilitary group that has sparked warnings of a confrontation.

Witnesses reported "confrontations" and loud explosions and gunfire near a base held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in south Khartoum. The military used light and heavy weapons in the attack, it said. The army has not commented on the incident.

Smoke was seen rising from Sudan's Khartoum airport, witnesses told Reuters.

Sounds of gunfire were also heard in the vicinity of the presidential palace in central Khartoum, witnesses said.

Commercial aircraft trying to land in the capital, Khartoum, began turning around to head back to their originating airport. Flights from Saudi Arabia turned back after nearly landing at Khartoum International Airport, flight tracking data showed Saturday.

Paramilitaries said  that the regular army has entered their camps in south Khartoum and laid siege to paramilitary forces there.

"The Rapid Support Forces were surprised Saturday with a large force from the army entering camps in Soba in Khartoum and laying siege to paramilitaries there," the RSF said in a statement.

It said the army force "launched a sweeping attack with all kinds of heavy and light weapons."

The rift between the forces came to the surface on Thursday, when the army said that recent movements by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful paramilitary group, had happened without coordination and were illegal.

On Friday and early on Saturday, the heads of both the army and RSF told mediators that they were ready to take steps to de-escalate the situation.

A confrontation between them could spell prolonged strife across a vast country already dealing with economic breakdown and flare-ups of tribal violence.

Earlier, General Abdul Fattah Al Burhan, the leader of Sudan's army, and General Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo, the head of a powerful Sudanese paramilitary group, were preparing to take steps to de-escalate tensions between their forces, mediators said in statements on Friday and early Saturday.

Warning of confrontation

The army on Thursday warned of a possible confrontation between the two forces following mobilisations by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, in the most public sign of long-simmering disagreements that are hampering efforts to restore civilian rule.

The RSF, which together with the army overthrew Omar Al Bashir in 2019, began redeploying units in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere amid talks last month on its integration into the military under a transition plan leading to new elections.

RSF chief Dagalo, better known in Sudan as Hemedti, has been deputy leader of the ruling Sovereign Council headed by army chief Burhan since 2019.

Sources close to both men said on Friday that they still remain at odds over who would be the commander-in-chief of the military during a multi-year integration period. The RSF says it should be led by the civilian head of state, a situation the army rejects.

That dispute has delayed the signing of a final agreement with political parties and the formation of a civilian government.

Following Thursday's warning from the army, several local and international players stepped forward with offers of mediation, including Finance Minister Jibril Ebrahim, Darfur Governor Minni Minawi and Sovereign Council member Malik Agar, three former rebel leaders who received posts following a 2020 peace deal.

"After an honest and serious conversation, assured us of his total commitment to not escalate, and his readiness to sit with his brother the head of the Sovereign Council and his brothers in the armed forces at any time and without condition," a statement from the three men said on Friday.

In a separate statement early on Saturday, the men said they met with Burhan, who was "prepared to take any step that would help resolve the urgent problem between the armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces and return things to normal." "We assure citizens that the crisis is on its way to a resolution, and that our leadership is more aware than to lead the country to a civil war where even the victor will lose," they added.

Army sources told Reuters on Friday that in order to de-escalate the RSF needed to withdraw its forces from near a military airport in the northern city of Merowe, and that its movements needed to happen in coordination with the military and within legal limits. RSF sources told Reuters on Friday that the movements had occurred in coordination with Burhan.

Sowing discord

Talk of a potential confrontation and the sight of armoured vehicles and military trucks in Khartoum streets have made citizens fearful, several told Reuters.

Many blamed both sides. "They are fighting over power and plundering the country, we are fighting for food and drink and education and healthcare," said Nafisa Suleiman, sitting at a vegetable stall.

"The military is supposed to protect people and now they are our greatest danger," said 35-year-old Isam Hassan. "The RSF should be under the military's control. No country has two armies," he added.

The Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), the main civilian coalition, alongside pro-democracy resistance committees and labour unions accused Bashir's now-outlawed National Congress Party (NCP), which has a presence in the military, of "sowing discord" in a rare joint statement.

Earlier this week, an NCP official told Reuters the group was increasing its public activity against the pending deal.

While the army and RSF shared power with the FFC in the wake of Bashir's ouster, their coup against the civilian government in October 2021 provided an opening for Bashir loyalists to return to the civil service.

Hemedti has said that resurgence led him to regret the coup and support the new transition deal.