Satellite images showing a smoke plume in Khartoum Airport and Soba Camp.
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Source: Satellite images by Planet Labs, captured on Saturday morning
The New York Times
Deadly clashes broke out in Sudan’s capital on Saturday when rising tensions between rival factions of the military turned violent. By Saturday evening, fighting had spread beyond the capital, Khartoum, and it was unclear who was in control of the country.
Here’s what videos show about the fighting and what we know about the locations of the violence.
Clashes in Khartoum
A map of areas where fighting has been reported in Sudan
Source: The New York Times reporting (locations of fighting), OpenStreetMap (Base map), Sentinel-2 ESRI (Built areas)
The New York Times
Fighting began at a military base before spreading to other critical sites throughout Khartoum. Fighter jets thundered overhead at low altitudes, residents sheltered at home and foreign embassies urged nationals to remain indoors.
Issam Khalafalla via Associated Press
Videos from Khartoum’s international airport showed civilian aircraft on fire and passengers ducking for cover. Saudi Arabian Airlines said one of its planes was damaged by gunfire while preparing for a scheduled flight to Riyadh.
Two groups are vying for control of the country: The Sudanese Army led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Force, a powerful paramilitary group led by Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan. The generals united to take seize of the country in a coup in 2021, but they have publicly fallen out in recent months.
Forces from both groups were seen in social media video out of Khartoum.
The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors urged doctors and surgeons to report to the nearest hospital, saying they were facing a large number of critical cases. At least 30 people were killed and hundreds injured, according to United Nations officials.
Elsewhere in Sudan
By Saturday evening, fighting had spread far beyond Khartoum. While it was too early to tell if Sudan was tumbling into civil war, some people told The New York Times that the broad geographic range of the fighting made it feel that way.
A map of areas where fighting has been reported in Sudan
In Sudan’s capital, fighting spread to the presidential palace and the international airport
In Sudan’s capital, fighting spread to the presidential palace and the international airport
Source: The New York Times reporting (locations of fighting), OpenStreetMap (Base map)
The New York Times
On Saturday night, the Rapid Support Force claimed on Twitter that it controlled most of the country’s military installations, including an airport in El Geneina.
But claims of control were disputed and impossible to verify. Both sides have said they control key installations across the country, and each side accuses the other of staging a coup.
Smoke rises in Omdurman, near Halfaya Bridge, in northern Khartoum.
Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters
