Sudan paramilitaries besiege hospital hosting former dictator Al-Bashir: source

Sudan paramilitaries have besieged a military hospital near the capital Khartoum hosting the country's ousted president and three former regime leaders, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Sources told the Saudi publication that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), engaged in a months-long conflict with the Sudanese army, besieged the Alia Military Hospital in Omdurman where former dictator Omar Al-Bashir, and Bakir Hassan Saleh, Youssef Abdel-Fattah and Ahmed al-Tayeb al-Khanjar are being treated.

It was not clear if the siege is ongoing and The New Arab could not verify reports of the siege.

Al-Bashir's regime was overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019. He is being tried over the 1989 coup that brought him to power and has spent months in a military hospital allegedly over his deteriorating health condition.

Later in April, only days after fighting erupted between the army and the RSF and amid the chaos, a wanted Sudanese war crimes suspect had confirmed that he and other members of the former regime escaped from prison.

A power struggle since Bashir’s ouster has worsened the political and economic situation in one of the world’s poorest countries. A military coup in October 2020 dashed hopes of a civilian government.

In Omdurman on Tuesday, fierce battles broke out across the city as the army tried to cut off supply routes used by the RSF to bring reinforcements into the city.

قوة العمل الخاص تواصل تمشيط أحياء أمدرمان من فلول التمرد.#السودان pic.twitter.com/pJbzD9l7nC

— Sudan News (@Sudan_tweet) July 4, 2023

Translation: The Special Action Force continues combing the neighbourhoods of Omdurman from the remnants of the [RSF] rebellion.

The army launched air and artillery strikes, amid clashes on the ground in several parts of Omdurman, witnesses said. The RSF claimed to have shot down a fighter jet, and residents posted a video that appeared to show pilots ejecting from a plane. There was no immediate comment from the army and The New Arab could not verify the footage.

الاشاوس يسقطون طائرة ميج تابعة لمليشيا البرهان والقبض على الطيارين#RSFLive #RSFSudan #معركة_الديمقراطية #حراس_الثورة_المجيدة pic.twitter.com/ARXDCw0XaT

— RSF Live (@RSFLiveSD) July 4, 2023

Translation: The brave [fighters] shoot down a MiG plane belonging to the [army chief Abdel Fattah] Al-Burhan militia, and the pilots were arrested.

The conflict has brought daily clashes to the wider capital, triggering ethnically-motivated killings in the western region of Darfur, and threatening to drag Sudan into a protracted civil war.

Both sides claim to be advancing and capturing more areas.

Over 2.8 million people have been displaced by the fighting. At least 2,000 civilians have been killed - though the real figure is thought to be much higher - and a record 25 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.