Fighting breaks out in Sudan’s capital Khartoum

Heavy gunfire has been heard in the streets of Khartoum, Sudan amid a rift between the military loyal to the country’s de facto leader Abdal Fatah Al Burhan, and the Rapid Support Force commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The intense fighting between the military and the powerful paramilitary group occurs after days of tension in the capital and other parts of the country.

A video footage streamed live on Facebook showed heavy deployment in the streets as shooting and loud explosions rocking several areas including near the army headquarters and the defence ministry in central Khartoum.

Al Jazeera news outlet understands that Khartoum Airport has been shut down with no inbound or outbound flights.

The rift between the forces escalated on Thursday when the army said recent movements by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had happened without coordination and were illegal.

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

The country has been in turmoil after years of civilian protests and economic crisis since ousting of Omer Bashir in 2019.