<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">A power struggle between Sudan's army and a notorious paramilitary force has rocked the country, with 27 reported dead and nearly 200 injured.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Residents dodged gunfire in the capital, Khartoum, as rival forces battled over the presidential palace, state TV, and army headquarters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among the dead were three UN workers, who were shot after the two sides exchanged gunfire at a military base.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The clashes erupted after tensions over a proposed transition to civilian rule.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Both the army and its opponents, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), claimed they had control of the airport and other key sites in Khartoum, where fighting continued overnight.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Violence was also reported elsewhere in the country, including in cities in the Darfur region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The army said jets were hitting RSF bases, and the country's air force told people to remain in their homes on Saturday night while it conducted a full aerial survey of paramilitary activity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Residents of Khartoum told the BBC of their panic and fear, with one describing bullets being fired at the house next door.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least 27 people have been killed and nearly 200 were injured in the violence, a Sudanese doctors' union said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It said it did not know how many of the casualties were civilians. Earlier, the union said three civilians had been confirmed dead.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Three employees for the World Food Programme (WFP), a UN body that delivers food assistance to vulnerable communities, were killed after the RSF and armed forces exchanged fire at a military base in Kabkabiya, in the west of the country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Two other staff members were seriously injured, and the RSF looted several WFP vehicles.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Generals have been running Sudan since a coup in October 2021.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The fighting is between army units loyal to the de facto leader, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Sudan's deputy leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo also known as Hemedti.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gen Dagalo said his troops would keep fighting until all army bases were captured.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In response, Sudan's armed forces ruled out negotiations "until the dissolution of the paramilitary RSF".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">'So much panic and fear'</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Khartoum, people were filmed running away and taking cover as black smoke rose over the city.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A Reuters journalist said there were armoured vehicles in the streets, while video showed a civilian plane ablaze at Khartoum airport. Saudi airline Saudia said one of its Airbuses came under fire.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Saudia and EgyptAir have suspended flights to Khartoum and neighbouring Chad has closed its border with Sudan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We don't have any electricity," a British-Sudanese doctor, who is visiting relatives in Khartoum, told the BBC. "It is hot. We can't afford to open the windows, the noise is deafening."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another eyewitness speaking to the BBC via her Kenya-based sister said: "Shooting is still ongoing and people are staying indoors - there is so much panic and fear."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Residents had not been expecting the clashes, she said, and many had been caught in transit, with bridges and roads closed and many schools in lockdown.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Duaa Tariq was speaking to the BBC when a military plane flew over her building. "They're shooting live ammunition at the roof of the house next door and we're just now taking shelter," she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The UK, the US and the EU have all called for an immediate end to the fighting. The UN's secretary general has spoken to Gen Burhan and Gen Dagalo, urging them to end the violence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">US Ambassador John Godfrey said he "woke up to the deeply disturbing sounds of gunfire and fighting", and that he was "sheltering in place with the embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia's embassy was also concerned by the "escalation of violence" and urged a ceasefire, Reuters reported.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The RSF on Saturday claimed control of at least three airports, the army chief's residence and the presidential palace, but Gen Burhan denied this in an interview with al-Jazeera.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are also reports of clashes at the state TV station, which eyewitnesses say is now controlled by the RSF.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier, the RSF had said that one of its camps in the south of Khartoum had been attacked. And on Saturday evening, Reuters reported that the army launched airstrikes on an RSF base in the north-west of the city, citing eyewitnesses.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The army has said that RSF fighters have been attacking army camps and trying to seize the military headquarters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Clashes are ongoing and the army is carrying out its duty to safeguard the country," the AFP news agency quoted army spokesman Brig Gen Nabil Abdallah as saying.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Reuters news agency also cited witnesses as saying that there was gunfire in the northern city of Merowe.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The RSF released a video that it said showed Egyptian troops who had "surrendered" to them in Merowe. The Egyptian military said its soldiers were in Sudan to conduct exercises with their Sudanese counterparts and that it was co-ordinating with Sudanese authorities to guarantee the safety of its personnel. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>