After the first shot was fired, violence escalated quickly across Africa's third-largest country, an illustration of just how far the two sides had gone in the preceding weeks to prepare for all-out war.
But neither of Sudan's two most powerful men showed up to the meeting, convened at presidential offices in central Khartoum at 10 a.m. on April 15, three of the Sudanese mediators said, in details revealed for the first time here.At about 8.30 a.m. shooting started at the Soba military camp in the south of Khartoum, according to three eyewitnesses and an advisor within Dagalo's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces .
A week before the fighting, on April 8, Burhan and Hemedti met for the last time at a farm on the outskirts of Khartoum, a diplomat briefed on the meeting and two of the mediators said. The air force, which has bombed positions in the capital since fighting erupted, studied the location of RSF camps for more than a week before the battles began, the two military sources said. The army also established a small committee of senior generals to prepare for a possible conflict with the RSF, the same sources said.
Assuming the top two positions on Sudan's ruling council after Bashir's 2019 overthrow during a protest movement, they mostly presented a united front in a power sharing arrangement with the Forces for Freedom and Change , a political coalition that arose from the uprising. However, the army was pushing for a shorter time frame, with General Shams El Din Kabbashi, Burhan's hardline deputy within the army, pushing for just two years.A senior diplomat involved in mediation efforts in the final weeks before the fighting said there seemed to be space for agreement between Burhan and Hemedti, though the RSF leader showed exasperation.
Mohamed and the FFC say this bloc is made up of supporters, including Islamists, of Bashir, who ruled Sudan for decades. Pro-Bashir forces started making a comeback after the 2021 coup. They have publicly opposed the December framework agreement for elections and civilian rule. Since his overthrow, Bashir has been in prison, with spells in hospital. He was convicted on corruption charges and is now being tried over the 1989 coup that brought him to power.
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