Khartoum has exploded into open warfare

THE WARNINGRSFRSFSAFRSFSAF RSF signs were not . For months tensions had been building between the two most powerful figures in Sudan’s military government: General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s de-facto leader since a coup in 2019; and Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo (better known as Hemedti), a warlord. He is the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (), a paramilitary unit that grew out of the Janjaweed militias accused of genocidal acts of murder and rape in Darfur. Many warned of an impending clash between the and General Burhan’s government forces, known as the Sudanese Armed Forces ().The crisis escalated sharply on the morning of April 13th, when residents of Merowe, in northern Sudan, awoke to find soldiers from the rolling through town and taking up positions around the airport, a base for fighter jets. In response, soldiers surrounded themen and reportedly ordered them to withdraw. Soon the government warned of an imminent confrontation between the two forces, as did representatives of America, the European Union and several other Western governments. Over the next 24 hours, diplomats dashed between the two camps trying to head off a conflict. In Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, residents braced for the worst.